Trump will not be able to pull out of NATO, if Biden signs a bill that Congress passed yesterday barring any president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO.
Fantastic. Wasn’t aware of the bill, but Biden will surely sign it. I always wondered whether any POTUS could unilaterally withdraw from NATO. The fact that we had a president who would contemplate such a thing is stunning…. but Dump’s knowledge and understanding of history and international issues is virtually nil. What matters to this supremely vain, ignorant humanoid is whatever flatters him and his “brand.”
I don't do thoughts and prayers, but I like that the Quakers say, "I will keep you in the light." And meanwhile, we'll be in the streets, on the phones, on the post cards, etc.
I remember my Professor of Military Science telling me that he envied the newly commissioned lieutenants, they were just setting out on the great adventure. I'm in that position now with Lucian V!
Congratulations and blessings to your son, and to you and all the Truscott officers before you. May Lucian stay safe as he defends our country, and may his country be worthy of him.
We’ll stand with you and your beautiful son and all our soldiers. It becomes immediate and personal when we see the ones we love dressed in uniform. I felt that even before my husband returned from boot camp in 1969 in his uniform. As soon as he returned there I re-doubled my efforts to protest the war. For him, for my former high school classmates, for my friends who were being sent into harms way.
Seeing them in that uniform comes close to breaking your heart sometimes. My sainted mother was going on and on about my son looking so handsome in his uniform and don't you just love to see a man in a uniform? I was already trying hard not smack her when she chirped up with "There's no chance he's going to get it caught up in this nonsense in Afghanistan is there?" (Circa 2010. Seriously mom, Where do you think they send Ranger Medics off to, Disneyland ?)
Yeah, you can be proud of them as you can be and still have that uniform bring up a lot of conflicted feelings.
Good to know your principled, creative refusal to conform to institutionally-mandated idiocy goes way back, mine too, that was also the year before the first Earth Day, in April 1970, and the October Moratorium, national protests against the war.
We high school seniors and other students marched down from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, at 45th and Chamberlain, hooked left down 42nd past the house where Cloris Leachman grew up, a right on Kingman Boulevard took us marching down to the main protest site at Drake University.
I think the Weather Underground's self-destructive and idiotic "Days of Rage" began in November 1969, as well.
It was a time of very passionate voices and movements of not only students. I was in marches in Manhattan standing with elders and businessmen in nyc demanding no more death in Vietnam - of either side. So many of us (I did and my friends did) had friends who’s already been in combat in Vietnam, who despised the war, some who died (letters between us had an almost inevitable line “did you hear that …one was a boyfriend I went to prom with - severely injured and sent home, disabled) or boyfriends, fiancés, husbands drafted into the army. And every night in the news, film of the war, of bodies shipped home. We were aware it wasn’t WW2, I’d say most if not all of us had fathers and uncles who’d served and we took pride in it.
What is happening now in Ukraine bears the likelihood of becoming a fight for the survival of our allies and ourselves. Our soldiers have been or are in harms way or likely to be. ( I remember when a group from the weathermen (who we thought were insane btw) blew themselves up somewhere in the west village. Lucien likely remembers. One of our close friends at the time knew one of the guys who was killed in that explosion. (He’d been to college with him). Far too radical for us.
the most radical people I knew were very active in working on the "Underground Railroad" of that era to get deserters and draft evaders to Canada. people TOLD me they knew people who were into making bombs and whatnot. my first response was that it was the kind of bullshit people said to get laid (true in virtually every case). my second response was that if there really were such people, they were ultimately going to hurt themselves and, if I happened to be around, me. and then there was the strange fact that nobody could explain to me what was SUPPOSED to happen AFTER the explosion.
what was crazy about the house in the West Village was how many other people lived in that house. James Merrill, the poet, had been born there and I'm pretty sure Dustin Hoffman was living there as well. as I recall, it was about half a block away from my favorite old NYC bookstore, Dauber & Pine.
Dustin Hoffman still lives in the west village I hear. Amazing how close to everything and anyone you got to be when protesting - at least in Manhattan back then. I recall no one seemed to have sumpathy for those kids who got themselves blown up, oddly enough. Just other kids shaking their heads muttering ‘ffg nuts’.
We once went for drinks after a protest with a hilarious guy we met who told us his phone was being tapped by the fbi so he would start and finish every conversation with « “Hoover wears a dress” At another one (on my lunch hour from work) a middle aged construction guy while shouting us down stopped me with a hand on my arm and said “Does your mother know you’re here?? “. One rally listening to William Kunstler I got passed a plate of brownies. That afternoon at work I was still in a pretty good mood.
Some friends took a bus up to the Canadian border and walked in snow until they nearly froze but at last got to a diner. A RC Mountie showed up and they were grateful when he sat down, ordered and paid for a large breakfast for them because they were broke. They chatted and he said “You know I have to drive you back?” At that point they were glad they told me. He took them back to the border and saw that they were put on a bus back to nyc.
Yes, we saw the same kind of results in central Iowa, and in eastern Iowa, in West Branch - birthplace of Herbert Hoover - where my own grandfather was mayor, he had been Speaker of the House of Representatives during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's second term - 1938-40, was at that time one of the very few Democrats in Cedar County - and in some ongoing protests at the U. of Iowa in Iowa City.
It's all reminiscent of Swift Boat commander John Kerry's testimony against continuing the Vietnam War before Congress, "How can you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?"
JFK's National Security Action Memorandum 263 directed that no U.S. troops be sent there, only advisers, and those were to be withdrawn by 1965. Mere days after JFK was assassinated, the new president, VP Lyndon Baines Johnson (almost certainly NOT in on plotting the assassination) provably part of the numerous actions to make sure the investigations went nowhere beyond Oswald (who shot no one at all that day, neither JFK nor Patrolman Jefferson Davis Tippit) as "lone nut shot two days later by another lone nut."
Jim DiEugenio examines Marc Selverstone's attempt to turn President Kennedy into a Cold Warrior, to somehow transform JFK's withdrawal plan in Vietnam into an open-ended commitment, and to absurdly propose that there was no real break in policy from JFK to LBJ.
Richard, this important epoch you speak of and the embedded piece on Kennedy (I just read the first section then sent it to my email to read all of it) shines a light on the conflicting political theories overarching the Vietnam conflict. I’d read The Ugly American in the mid sixties, years later I read my mother’s volumes of Eisenhower's mémoires with vivid memories of the flying discussions of the domino theory during the war. What a time.
The national high school debating topic for the 1969-70 school year was : "Resolved, that the Congress should prohibit unilateral military intervention in foreign countries."
Those of us in speech and forensics classes, or who ended up on the school's debate teams via other routes, tended to become nearly obsessed and fanatical about marshalling as much evidence to support their side of the given debate at the various matches and tournaments during the school year, pro or con, "anti-war," or at least anti-unilateral U.S. military actions abroad - with no allies supporting, already `problematic,' as the buzz word has it - "pro-war," or at least in favor of the view the executive should retain the flexibility to "send in the Marines" in an emergency action, with or without allies.
It got so intense, with so many of us looking for some edge to influence the debate judges, I remember reading Douglas Pike's 1962 study of the NLF, the National Liberation Front, aka the "Viet Cong," searching for some useful facts to show the US should have just negotiated a modus vivendi, a series of compromises with the peasants and those supporting the end of colonial power in the land, given the deep roots of the NLF across the thousands of villages and small cities in Vietnam. There was just no way an outside army could "win" without "destroying the village in order to save it."
I would have enjoyed watching those debates. It was difficult, even in highschool, not to engage in discussions (which were encouraged) on the nature of war and the human inclination to go fists-up into a conflict no matter how large or small. (A far cry from your more considered arguments)
With every passing day it becomes more and more clear if it hadn’t already been that everything to keep that sick fuck from regaining office must be done. I think Jack Smith is our only strong line of defense against this possibility I am just sweating the supreme court involvement in this. Smith had no choice but it’s frightening. I only wish the best for you and your son Lucian. It’s a tough time to be patriotic and do the correct thing. All our hearts are with you.
It’s hard to believe anything that’s going on but the fact that he has 91 indictments against him and he’s still the GOP candidate for president is not something you can wrap your mind around. I blame the media for a good deal of our collective anxiety, every single day screaming headlines, when he’s president this will happen that will happen. Why don’t we just not give him any more oxygen?
Hmm, Mr. AJ Bernstein, says here you're applying for the position of advertising manager for our publication. Glad to meet you, have a seat, have a cigar, have two cigars and take one home to Mrs. Bernstein, we're all glad you've decided to consider coming on board!
Now as you and I both know, advertising dollars are the life-blood of the Bogus City Journal Shrieker, have been since the day Colonel Pumblechook first published in 1888, the year the Great Blizzard coated the town with ice a mile thick and the Mayor's wife, Alice Dormouse, slid all the way into the Hudson near Sleepy Hollow, was never seen again, but of course that park across the street there past Martini's Saloon was named for her, and a fine park it is, too.
Uh, what is that you say? What's the political stance of the paper? You mean about the elections and so on? Is that it? You want to know if we are going to let Trump run those new ads about Hunter Biden being a baby-killing cannibal in cahoots with Jack Smith and Fani Willis, why of course we are, Trump is pure advertising revenue gold, 14 karat and we take no position on his unfortunate politics, of course....why are you leaving, AJ, may I call you AJ? You are perfect for the position, don't leave! Let me explain!
Oh well, can't win 'em all. Miss Boebert! Stop yakking on the phone with your mother and send in the next applicant. And stop chewing that gum, you'll stunt your growth!
Well, hello, Mister...Mister Heep, Mr. Uriah Heep, have a seat, have a cigar, have two cigars and take one home to Mrs. Heep, your resume is sterling, stands out from all the rest, did you really do thirty years for defrauding a children's cancer charity and killing the prosecutor when the foreman affirmed the verdict, with a poison dart tipped with curare from a blowgun you smuggled into court? Wonderful initiative and guts, Mr. Heep! We need that here at the Journal Shrieker, settle in and tell me all about it, you're as good as hired!
Delightful. This wonderful satire eloquently defines why the media are such whores and why we need some impartial new source along the lines of the BBC. There used to be something called the Fairness Doctrine, but that’s gone. Greed made it an anachronism. Maybe Karl Marx was right about capitalism.
Every college student could learn much of value and for historical comparison purposes, by studying the writings of Karl Marx before 1848, and then in the immediate aftermath, on to the Communist Manifesto. Simplified - before 1848 we get the "Marx as humanistic egalitarian democratic socialist," after - the more utopian dogmatism increases and we get calls for revolution, but with very little depiction of what is on offer when and if the revolution wins, while there still remain huge swaths about worker's rights that are part of every advanced democratic nation on the planet now, those were valuable as can be, and were fought for (in the USA) by the AFL, the CIO, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters led by A. Phillip Randolph, then the AFL-CIO, etc. The Teamsters also, long before the mob infiltrated so successfully. And fought for by the IWW, "the Wobblies" and many others, the Non-Partisan League was incredibly successful for a time in the upper Midwest, labor history and women's history, along with Black Studies, Native American Studies, are very rich areas with immense value for all students, period full stop.
I’ve said that a thousand times. Just don’t cover the fat assed lying traitor. But the media is (are) a business, and you know the rest. Trump generates viewers and readers, hence dollars.
Our grandson graduated from Cornell on a ROTC scholarship and preceded Lucian by two years. He is now a 1st Lt., platoon leader in the Tenth Mountain Division deployed to a base in NE Syria. We are proud and concerned about the future of both your and our young men. Thank you for alerting others to the serious risk of our troops in various deployments.
Bravo! The other Truscott men are not just wonderful role models, but formidable ancestors to watch over both of you. What a remarkable moment to share. Seeing the expressions on your faces are all we need to glimpse and share your pride. Keeping you both in the light seems the best wish we can send.
Putin's stated objective is restoration of the Russian Empire including Poland and the Baltic States. Meanwhile our House of Representative has taken off for the holidays without funding more support for Ukraine. Those who ignoted Hitler's ambitions had reason to regret it. I think this is exactly the same thing. If we don't support Ukraine, our own sons and grandsons will be in harm's way. Russia has shown who they are. They are the most immediate existenial threat to western democracies.
Not even the fascist atrocities aided and abetted by Hitler & Mussolini in Spain, 1936-1939, could wake up those people who were diehard "Isolationists," while the extensive German-American Bund and the ultra-right wing Silver Shirts were cheering on Hitler and his nefarious ambitions for conquest, exactly right, Dr. Bestermann.
LT, I wish your son the best of luck. May he always have good men as his commanding officers. I get exhausted just thinking about all the training he'll have to go through.
Now that you have a son on the "inside", you might ask him to keep an eye out for signs of Christian Nationalism, which is happening in some units, particularly the USAF.
A great organization for active duty soldiers is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) run by retired LtCol Mikey Weinstein. There are some really weird religious nuts who are senior active duty officers in all branches. I think they help each other advance; almost like a secret society. I could see these guys doing whatever Trump asks of them.
As I understand it, one bad fitness report and one's military future is ruined. Consequently, soldiers are very reluctant to complain about anything.
P>S> I see that he is wearing what I believe the Army used to call "Tans". The Army brought it back, I assume. I have pictures of my WW2 Army Officer uncles wearing them. Nice uniform; good look.
I have read that this (service dress?) uniform was indeed brought back not terribly long ago -- a deliberate hearkening to the vintage WWII-era look. I *think* the dress blues are still a thing. I shoukd look up the current official uniforms and review. They do seem to be revised more frequently than ever. Navy, too, I shouldn't wonder. You sure don't see the classic, traditional "cracker jack" uni much anymore except on dress occasions. (You can tell I don't much approve of modern bland naval uniforms that make our seamen look like, I dunno, mechanics or plumbers or desk jockeys.)
I suddenly remembered: the army called those tan trousers "Pinks". I have no idea why; they are not pink. But that's the Army. And I don't like seeing sailors dressed as clerks in some fancy store!
Yes, I thought about noting the "pinks" term. But figured it would confuse people. Those beige/tan/khaki trousers used to fade into such a light shade, they were referred to as "pink" back in the day by some wags. Don't know if that was meant derisively or not. Maybe they really looked vaguely pink in some lights, next to that olive drab coat.
I believe they were called “pinks” because over time the common working khaki faded into a pale color that apparently ( though not to my eyes) looked pink.
Good Lord. There was never a finer sight than a sailor in bell bottoms that had been tailored in the Philippines... It is a fine uniform with historical roots that has made many a heart flutter over the years. I hope it is never retired.
There was a brief attempt to phase out the crackerjacks/bell bottoms when Admiral Elmo Zumwalt became CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) in 1970. He was highly intelligent and very progressive and thought that younger sailors in grades E-1 through E-6 ( all but chief petty officers, who already wore uniforms more like those of naval officers) would look more “grown up” with a double breasted jackets, frame covers, etc. The change was not popular, and the next CNO restored the bell bottoms. An expensive experiment.
There’s another organization, to which I contribute a paltry annual sum, called VoteVets. It’s organized and run, from all appearances, by intelligent, progressive people… most or all of them possibly veterans, though it makes no difference to them whether you are one (as I am) or not.
Trump will not be able to pull out of NATO, if Biden signs a bill that Congress passed yesterday barring any president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO.
Yes, I was thinking about this as I read Lucian's newsletter.
Fantastic. Wasn’t aware of the bill, but Biden will surely sign it. I always wondered whether any POTUS could unilaterally withdraw from NATO. The fact that we had a president who would contemplate such a thing is stunning…. but Dump’s knowledge and understanding of history and international issues is virtually nil. What matters to this supremely vain, ignorant humanoid is whatever flatters him and his “brand.”
Was that NATO provision part of the NDAA?
Yes. See https://thehill.com/homenews/4360407-congress-approves-bill-barring-president-withdrawing-nato/
Read it. Tks.
I take issue with your inclusion of "virtually."
LOL. You’re right. Delete “virtually.”
Wait, how did this get through the Destroy-America congress? I had not heard about it.
Yes, it did! Hard to believe but normalcy somehow invaded for this to be signed into law.
I was just going to say that myself! I'm sure Biden will sign it!
I didn’t know! Thanks for the info.
I don't do thoughts and prayers, but I like that the Quakers say, "I will keep you in the light." And meanwhile, we'll be in the streets, on the phones, on the post cards, etc.
Congrats to your son! I wish him all the best in his journey and the next phase of his life.
And I wish you all the best as well, Lucian: the sleepless nights, the worry…
All good thoughts for you and your family!
What Kaley said. Plus, Lucian Truscott V will be in my daily prayers for his safety and for his continuing to uphold the Truscott tradition
What Kally and Judy said. Hugs, Congratulations, and Thank You.
I remember my Professor of Military Science telling me that he envied the newly commissioned lieutenants, they were just setting out on the great adventure. I'm in that position now with Lucian V!
Congratulations and blessings to your son, and to you and all the Truscott officers before you. May Lucian stay safe as he defends our country, and may his country be worthy of him.
We’ll stand with you and your beautiful son and all our soldiers. It becomes immediate and personal when we see the ones we love dressed in uniform. I felt that even before my husband returned from boot camp in 1969 in his uniform. As soon as he returned there I re-doubled my efforts to protest the war. For him, for my former high school classmates, for my friends who were being sent into harms way.
Seeing them in that uniform comes close to breaking your heart sometimes. My sainted mother was going on and on about my son looking so handsome in his uniform and don't you just love to see a man in a uniform? I was already trying hard not smack her when she chirped up with "There's no chance he's going to get it caught up in this nonsense in Afghanistan is there?" (Circa 2010. Seriously mom, Where do you think they send Ranger Medics off to, Disneyland ?)
Yeah, you can be proud of them as you can be and still have that uniform bring up a lot of conflicted feelings.
You expressed this, I think, so perfectly.
Good to know your principled, creative refusal to conform to institutionally-mandated idiocy goes way back, mine too, that was also the year before the first Earth Day, in April 1970, and the October Moratorium, national protests against the war.
We high school seniors and other students marched down from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, at 45th and Chamberlain, hooked left down 42nd past the house where Cloris Leachman grew up, a right on Kingman Boulevard took us marching down to the main protest site at Drake University.
I think the Weather Underground's self-destructive and idiotic "Days of Rage" began in November 1969, as well.
It was a time of very passionate voices and movements of not only students. I was in marches in Manhattan standing with elders and businessmen in nyc demanding no more death in Vietnam - of either side. So many of us (I did and my friends did) had friends who’s already been in combat in Vietnam, who despised the war, some who died (letters between us had an almost inevitable line “did you hear that …one was a boyfriend I went to prom with - severely injured and sent home, disabled) or boyfriends, fiancés, husbands drafted into the army. And every night in the news, film of the war, of bodies shipped home. We were aware it wasn’t WW2, I’d say most if not all of us had fathers and uncles who’d served and we took pride in it.
What is happening now in Ukraine bears the likelihood of becoming a fight for the survival of our allies and ourselves. Our soldiers have been or are in harms way or likely to be. ( I remember when a group from the weathermen (who we thought were insane btw) blew themselves up somewhere in the west village. Lucien likely remembers. One of our close friends at the time knew one of the guys who was killed in that explosion. (He’d been to college with him). Far too radical for us.
the most radical people I knew were very active in working on the "Underground Railroad" of that era to get deserters and draft evaders to Canada. people TOLD me they knew people who were into making bombs and whatnot. my first response was that it was the kind of bullshit people said to get laid (true in virtually every case). my second response was that if there really were such people, they were ultimately going to hurt themselves and, if I happened to be around, me. and then there was the strange fact that nobody could explain to me what was SUPPOSED to happen AFTER the explosion.
what was crazy about the house in the West Village was how many other people lived in that house. James Merrill, the poet, had been born there and I'm pretty sure Dustin Hoffman was living there as well. as I recall, it was about half a block away from my favorite old NYC bookstore, Dauber & Pine.
Dustin Hoffman still lives in the west village I hear. Amazing how close to everything and anyone you got to be when protesting - at least in Manhattan back then. I recall no one seemed to have sumpathy for those kids who got themselves blown up, oddly enough. Just other kids shaking their heads muttering ‘ffg nuts’.
We once went for drinks after a protest with a hilarious guy we met who told us his phone was being tapped by the fbi so he would start and finish every conversation with « “Hoover wears a dress” At another one (on my lunch hour from work) a middle aged construction guy while shouting us down stopped me with a hand on my arm and said “Does your mother know you’re here?? “. One rally listening to William Kunstler I got passed a plate of brownies. That afternoon at work I was still in a pretty good mood.
Some friends took a bus up to the Canadian border and walked in snow until they nearly froze but at last got to a diner. A RC Mountie showed up and they were grateful when he sat down, ordered and paid for a large breakfast for them because they were broke. They chatted and he said “You know I have to drive you back?” At that point they were glad they told me. He took them back to the border and saw that they were put on a bus back to nyc.
Yes, we saw the same kind of results in central Iowa, and in eastern Iowa, in West Branch - birthplace of Herbert Hoover - where my own grandfather was mayor, he had been Speaker of the House of Representatives during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's second term - 1938-40, was at that time one of the very few Democrats in Cedar County - and in some ongoing protests at the U. of Iowa in Iowa City.
It's all reminiscent of Swift Boat commander John Kerry's testimony against continuing the Vietnam War before Congress, "How can you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?"
JFK's National Security Action Memorandum 263 directed that no U.S. troops be sent there, only advisers, and those were to be withdrawn by 1965. Mere days after JFK was assassinated, the new president, VP Lyndon Baines Johnson (almost certainly NOT in on plotting the assassination) provably part of the numerous actions to make sure the investigations went nowhere beyond Oswald (who shot no one at all that day, neither JFK nor Patrolman Jefferson Davis Tippit) as "lone nut shot two days later by another lone nut."
https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-kennedy-withdrawal-by-marc-selverstone
Jim DiEugenio examines Marc Selverstone's attempt to turn President Kennedy into a Cold Warrior, to somehow transform JFK's withdrawal plan in Vietnam into an open-ended commitment, and to absurdly propose that there was no real break in policy from JFK to LBJ.
Richard, this important epoch you speak of and the embedded piece on Kennedy (I just read the first section then sent it to my email to read all of it) shines a light on the conflicting political theories overarching the Vietnam conflict. I’d read The Ugly American in the mid sixties, years later I read my mother’s volumes of Eisenhower's mémoires with vivid memories of the flying discussions of the domino theory during the war. What a time.
The national high school debating topic for the 1969-70 school year was : "Resolved, that the Congress should prohibit unilateral military intervention in foreign countries."
Those of us in speech and forensics classes, or who ended up on the school's debate teams via other routes, tended to become nearly obsessed and fanatical about marshalling as much evidence to support their side of the given debate at the various matches and tournaments during the school year, pro or con, "anti-war," or at least anti-unilateral U.S. military actions abroad - with no allies supporting, already `problematic,' as the buzz word has it - "pro-war," or at least in favor of the view the executive should retain the flexibility to "send in the Marines" in an emergency action, with or without allies.
It got so intense, with so many of us looking for some edge to influence the debate judges, I remember reading Douglas Pike's 1962 study of the NLF, the National Liberation Front, aka the "Viet Cong," searching for some useful facts to show the US should have just negotiated a modus vivendi, a series of compromises with the peasants and those supporting the end of colonial power in the land, given the deep roots of the NLF across the thousands of villages and small cities in Vietnam. There was just no way an outside army could "win" without "destroying the village in order to save it."
I would have enjoyed watching those debates. It was difficult, even in highschool, not to engage in discussions (which were encouraged) on the nature of war and the human inclination to go fists-up into a conflict no matter how large or small. (A far cry from your more considered arguments)
With every passing day it becomes more and more clear if it hadn’t already been that everything to keep that sick fuck from regaining office must be done. I think Jack Smith is our only strong line of defense against this possibility I am just sweating the supreme court involvement in this. Smith had no choice but it’s frightening. I only wish the best for you and your son Lucian. It’s a tough time to be patriotic and do the correct thing. All our hearts are with you.
I am so in denial about this -- I cannot believe I live in a country where the re-election of Donald Trump is even a remote possibility, but I do.
It’s hard to believe anything that’s going on but the fact that he has 91 indictments against him and he’s still the GOP candidate for president is not something you can wrap your mind around. I blame the media for a good deal of our collective anxiety, every single day screaming headlines, when he’s president this will happen that will happen. Why don’t we just not give him any more oxygen?
Hmm, Mr. AJ Bernstein, says here you're applying for the position of advertising manager for our publication. Glad to meet you, have a seat, have a cigar, have two cigars and take one home to Mrs. Bernstein, we're all glad you've decided to consider coming on board!
Now as you and I both know, advertising dollars are the life-blood of the Bogus City Journal Shrieker, have been since the day Colonel Pumblechook first published in 1888, the year the Great Blizzard coated the town with ice a mile thick and the Mayor's wife, Alice Dormouse, slid all the way into the Hudson near Sleepy Hollow, was never seen again, but of course that park across the street there past Martini's Saloon was named for her, and a fine park it is, too.
Uh, what is that you say? What's the political stance of the paper? You mean about the elections and so on? Is that it? You want to know if we are going to let Trump run those new ads about Hunter Biden being a baby-killing cannibal in cahoots with Jack Smith and Fani Willis, why of course we are, Trump is pure advertising revenue gold, 14 karat and we take no position on his unfortunate politics, of course....why are you leaving, AJ, may I call you AJ? You are perfect for the position, don't leave! Let me explain!
Oh well, can't win 'em all. Miss Boebert! Stop yakking on the phone with your mother and send in the next applicant. And stop chewing that gum, you'll stunt your growth!
Well, hello, Mister...Mister Heep, Mr. Uriah Heep, have a seat, have a cigar, have two cigars and take one home to Mrs. Heep, your resume is sterling, stands out from all the rest, did you really do thirty years for defrauding a children's cancer charity and killing the prosecutor when the foreman affirmed the verdict, with a poison dart tipped with curare from a blowgun you smuggled into court? Wonderful initiative and guts, Mr. Heep! We need that here at the Journal Shrieker, settle in and tell me all about it, you're as good as hired!
Delightful. This wonderful satire eloquently defines why the media are such whores and why we need some impartial new source along the lines of the BBC. There used to be something called the Fairness Doctrine, but that’s gone. Greed made it an anachronism. Maybe Karl Marx was right about capitalism.
Every college student could learn much of value and for historical comparison purposes, by studying the writings of Karl Marx before 1848, and then in the immediate aftermath, on to the Communist Manifesto. Simplified - before 1848 we get the "Marx as humanistic egalitarian democratic socialist," after - the more utopian dogmatism increases and we get calls for revolution, but with very little depiction of what is on offer when and if the revolution wins, while there still remain huge swaths about worker's rights that are part of every advanced democratic nation on the planet now, those were valuable as can be, and were fought for (in the USA) by the AFL, the CIO, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters led by A. Phillip Randolph, then the AFL-CIO, etc. The Teamsters also, long before the mob infiltrated so successfully. And fought for by the IWW, "the Wobblies" and many others, the Non-Partisan League was incredibly successful for a time in the upper Midwest, labor history and women's history, along with Black Studies, Native American Studies, are very rich areas with immense value for all students, period full stop.
Therefore the GOP wants to destroy them all!
news, plural
If it bleeds, it leads...
I’ve said that a thousand times. Just don’t cover the fat assed lying traitor. But the media is (are) a business, and you know the rest. Trump generates viewers and readers, hence dollars.
Agreed...he's acting as if he IS the president and the media seems to be encouraging it!!
If you received a column with "image not found" under the photo of me and Lucian, it was a Substack mistake, which I have corrected.
Congratulations to Lt Truscott and all best wishes as he begins his career and follows some very notable footprints as he makes his own.
Congratulations to Lt. Truscott!
Congratulations to both Lucians! A good reason to be very proud of him.
when our sons go to war they take our hearts with them. godspeed lt. truskcott.
Our grandson graduated from Cornell on a ROTC scholarship and preceded Lucian by two years. He is now a 1st Lt., platoon leader in the Tenth Mountain Division deployed to a base in NE Syria. We are proud and concerned about the future of both your and our young men. Thank you for alerting others to the serious risk of our troops in various deployments.
Paul Hicks
Tell him to stay safe
Congratulations. May this country deserve and appreciate the sacrifices our troops during both war and peace. Semper Fi
Bravo! The other Truscott men are not just wonderful role models, but formidable ancestors to watch over both of you. What a remarkable moment to share. Seeing the expressions on your faces are all we need to glimpse and share your pride. Keeping you both in the light seems the best wish we can send.
Putin's stated objective is restoration of the Russian Empire including Poland and the Baltic States. Meanwhile our House of Representative has taken off for the holidays without funding more support for Ukraine. Those who ignoted Hitler's ambitions had reason to regret it. I think this is exactly the same thing. If we don't support Ukraine, our own sons and grandsons will be in harm's way. Russia has shown who they are. They are the most immediate existenial threat to western democracies.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/putin-speech-russia-empire-threat-ukraine-moscow
Not even the fascist atrocities aided and abetted by Hitler & Mussolini in Spain, 1936-1939, could wake up those people who were diehard "Isolationists," while the extensive German-American Bund and the ultra-right wing Silver Shirts were cheering on Hitler and his nefarious ambitions for conquest, exactly right, Dr. Bestermann.
LT, I wish your son the best of luck. May he always have good men as his commanding officers. I get exhausted just thinking about all the training he'll have to go through.
Now that you have a son on the "inside", you might ask him to keep an eye out for signs of Christian Nationalism, which is happening in some units, particularly the USAF.
A great organization for active duty soldiers is the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) run by retired LtCol Mikey Weinstein. There are some really weird religious nuts who are senior active duty officers in all branches. I think they help each other advance; almost like a secret society. I could see these guys doing whatever Trump asks of them.
As I understand it, one bad fitness report and one's military future is ruined. Consequently, soldiers are very reluctant to complain about anything.
P>S> I see that he is wearing what I believe the Army used to call "Tans". The Army brought it back, I assume. I have pictures of my WW2 Army Officer uncles wearing them. Nice uniform; good look.
I have
I have read that this (service dress?) uniform was indeed brought back not terribly long ago -- a deliberate hearkening to the vintage WWII-era look. I *think* the dress blues are still a thing. I shoukd look up the current official uniforms and review. They do seem to be revised more frequently than ever. Navy, too, I shouldn't wonder. You sure don't see the classic, traditional "cracker jack" uni much anymore except on dress occasions. (You can tell I don't much approve of modern bland naval uniforms that make our seamen look like, I dunno, mechanics or plumbers or desk jockeys.)
I suddenly remembered: the army called those tan trousers "Pinks". I have no idea why; they are not pink. But that's the Army. And I don't like seeing sailors dressed as clerks in some fancy store!
Yes, I thought about noting the "pinks" term. But figured it would confuse people. Those beige/tan/khaki trousers used to fade into such a light shade, they were referred to as "pink" back in the day by some wags. Don't know if that was meant derisively or not. Maybe they really looked vaguely pink in some lights, next to that olive drab coat.
I believe they were called “pinks” because over time the common working khaki faded into a pale color that apparently ( though not to my eyes) looked pink.
Good Lord. There was never a finer sight than a sailor in bell bottoms that had been tailored in the Philippines... It is a fine uniform with historical roots that has made many a heart flutter over the years. I hope it is never retired.
There was a brief attempt to phase out the crackerjacks/bell bottoms when Admiral Elmo Zumwalt became CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) in 1970. He was highly intelligent and very progressive and thought that younger sailors in grades E-1 through E-6 ( all but chief petty officers, who already wore uniforms more like those of naval officers) would look more “grown up” with a double breasted jackets, frame covers, etc. The change was not popular, and the next CNO restored the bell bottoms. An expensive experiment.
Also called pink and greens, as the world war II era pants had a pinkish cast. The Eisenhower jacket is back!
There’s another organization, to which I contribute a paltry annual sum, called VoteVets. It’s organized and run, from all appearances, by intelligent, progressive people… most or all of them possibly veterans, though it makes no difference to them whether you are one (as I am) or not.
Can't limit this to a solitary thought bubble.
~wet eyes~ Ancestors, Pride, Respect, Honor, Legacy (...)