You've earned a rest. I was with friends last night and one remarked how depressed he is. I said "no" - we're deflated -- for now. We all need to kick back and recharge; we're not going ANYWHERE!
Rest and recharge. You've certainly earned it. And out here, as we try to reassemble our lives, we'll be supporting your work. The more practical your help, the more we'll be able to do. Aside from donations to the ACLU, what do you suggest? Looking forward to your help and direction. Some of us are lost.
My thought is that we read this piece and understand how difficult it is to (1) devise a strategy to combat this propaganda that doesn't run afoul of free speech and (2) get some fat cats to fund it, since it would be against their selfish interests.
Thank you for sharing this article. For the last few weeks, that question.
" Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?
It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.",
was echoing around in my brain, more and more insistently, as I heard no one on the news address it and only slight allusions to it in the other sources I was following quite obsessively in an attempt to understand the world in this time.
What has puzzled me for over 20 years now is the reaction I would typically get from my educated liberal friends when I would bring up the subject of right wing talk radio. Disinterested indifference just about sums it up. Well, now we see stage 4 of this particular cancer in the body politic.
How people perceive. . .Some are starting to perceive reality. From Heather Cox Richardson:
Social media has been flooded today with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices as reporters are covering that information. Daniel Laguna of LevelUp warned that Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese imports could raise the costs of gaming consoles by 40%, so that a PS5 Pro gaming system would cost up to $1,000. One of the old justifications for tariffs was that they would bring factories home, but when the $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced yesterday it would reduce its imports from China by half to avoid Trump-promised tariffs, it said it will shift production not to the U.S., but to Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil.
NPR just reported Trump thinks tariffs will encourage domestic manufacturing. So much for in depth reporting.
Something is rotten in the state of Trump. Remember when he was blathering on day after day about how he didn't need any more votes and he didn't care if people voted and he had a big secret with Mike Johnson and he ran the most idiotic 'campaign' rallies with absolutely no substance. And if he was trying to lose the election, he couldn't have done a better job. Remember the interviews with the black journalists or the rally with, we don't need any questions, let's just listen to Ave Maria and YMCA and his Spotify list??? WTF??? I mean he seemed to KNOW he didn't have to campaign and why is that exactly? And he knew we dems would roll over and accept the results of a free and fair election with no questions asked. I just find it mysterious that he won at all. All comments welcome.
I'm not concerned about re-living November 2024 in our rearview mirrors.
America's future will be a consequence of what we do next, going forward in the next two years.
The first item of business is to acknowledge that what worked great in the previous elections, as which was done perfectly this time, does not work now.
For example,
A perfectly piloted WW I Curtiss JN4 Jenny biplane flying against a WW II Messerschmidt BF-109 does not have good odds for a favorable outcome. No matter the skill of the pilot or her ground crew.
The old rules and methods did not work. They should have, but they didn't. Let's find a paradigm that reaches the bewitched.
One thing springs to mind we can all do today: if you don’t have a paid subscription to this substack, pony up, or if you do and can afford it, consider upgrading to the higher paid level. LKTIV deserves a reasonable return for his important work, never more so than now.
Well... I start chemo on Monday. The operation (lumpectomy -- right breast) was successful and will probably be the easiest part of the whole process. I thought maybe I'd get a 50% discount on future squisho-grams, but they didn't lop the whole thing. Anyway -- that poor old boobie hasn't had this much attention in years. I feel good, no pain, but now they have to poison me and microwave me afterwards. Such a chore...
What I mean is -- based on recent current events, I wouldn't describe cancer treatment as comic relief, but it IS a distraction. (I want everyone to have MUCH better ways of comfort!!!)
During "infusion" (a word that makes me feel like a teabag) I'll be wearing an insanely expensive helmet called the Cold Cap which is supposed to prevent or at least reduce hair loss -- no one ever went broke capitalizing on human vanity. I will also have some magic salve that is supposed to preserve my eyebrows and eyelashes. We'll see. But I can promise one thing -- I WON'T miss my little moustache.
Pat the wife and your cats and watch screwball comedies.
Sure sounds like you're taking it on in the right spirit, Marjorie. Best wishes on getting through it with the least discomfort and most success possible.
Like you, I come from a long line of US warriors/people of service. I am myself a retired Naval officer having served a long career. Given same, I find myself emotionally ambiguous at best this post election/Veterans’ Day weekend. I do not think that I have personally ever felt this let down by fellow Americans who have chosen to re-elect our past perfidious potus whose both civil and criminal records pose too great a security risk to trust. Someone with such a record would be ineligible for entry into any branch of US service, much less chosen to lead the band, so to speak. But here we are —Americans have re-elected a felonious criminally convicted fraud, a sexual predator found liable for sexual assault who also conspired to subvert our democratic process for personal gain, who not only boasts of his autocratic ambitions and demands personal loyalty but also overtly displays fascistic proclivities antithetical to any oath of office, much less that of POTUS. His soldiers of sedition cruise our streets and highways in their Taliban-like trucks shamefully flying bastardized and desecrated American flags placing his orange likeness above Old Glory’s intended expression of country and Constitution. I am both demoralized and thoroughly pissed off. Given all that and like you, taking a temporary breather is likely a prudent choice. Going to kick back a bit and chill trying to reconcile reality🍻🇺🇸♾️
Since it's "Noirvember" at www.criterionchannel.com, I've watched a bunch of powerful films to take my mind off the current recriminations, real classics like Double Indemnity, Laura, The Maltese Falcon, Gilda, The Big Clock, High Sierra, and lesser known but very effective movies like On Dangerous Ground, The Crimson Kimono, and the restored version of The Naked City (1948)
Also the USSR 1967 adaptation of War and Peace in four parts, excellent stuff.
Best one year streaming movie subscription $$ I ever spent ($109), in July. Many or most of the acting performances in those noir films stand up as iconic after over 60-70-80 years, plus they are exploiting universal themes of human passions, greed, chicanery and Faustian bargains, so it's not just suspense and thrills, etc.
Another good one out of many now up there is The Baron of Arizona, starring Vincent Price, one of his own favorites. But hey there are over 3000 films up there, plenty of great foreign films, no way can I watch too many before the sub renewal next year.
For those unfamiliar, Sierra Madre is the movie in which Bogart (Fred Dobbs) yells at Alfonso Bedoya, (as the character, "Gold Hat"), "If you're the police, where are your badges?"
A doozy of a week for sure. My sweet Archie 🐈⬛ and I have gone off grid as well. Wishing you , Tracy, and your “fur peeps” a peaceful, rejuvenating time. Thank you for all you do - please take care 🙏
Have a super nap Lucian. We all need “time off”. Not discussing much here. Rejuvenating. At grandson’s college diving competition. Then we’re going walking. Peace to all. Read Timothy Snyder today.
Thanks for all you have done for us these last difficult months and for what you will (I hope!) continue to do for us through the super-rough coming years.
I am mad as hell right now. I have cut off all MSM news. I am fighting to control my emotions. I need to find a group of my people to hide out with until I can be civil. I have already seen some of the MAGA hate.
Post I saw on Facebook years ago: Dear naps, sorry I was so mean to you as a kid.
Priceless!
Love it.
You've earned a rest. I was with friends last night and one remarked how depressed he is. I said "no" - we're deflated -- for now. We all need to kick back and recharge; we're not going ANYWHERE!
That's it! Deflated! Thanks.
Rest and recharge. You've certainly earned it. And out here, as we try to reassemble our lives, we'll be supporting your work. The more practical your help, the more we'll be able to do. Aside from donations to the ACLU, what do you suggest? Looking forward to your help and direction. Some of us are lost.
My thought is that we read this piece and understand how difficult it is to (1) devise a strategy to combat this propaganda that doesn't run afoul of free speech and (2) get some fat cats to fund it, since it would be against their selfish interests.
https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/trump-media-information-landscape-fox
THIS is why we lost and THIS needs urgent, intelligent attention.
Thank you for sharing this article. For the last few weeks, that question.
" Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?
It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.",
was echoing around in my brain, more and more insistently, as I heard no one on the news address it and only slight allusions to it in the other sources I was following quite obsessively in an attempt to understand the world in this time.
What has puzzled me for over 20 years now is the reaction I would typically get from my educated liberal friends when I would bring up the subject of right wing talk radio. Disinterested indifference just about sums it up. Well, now we see stage 4 of this particular cancer in the body politic.
How people perceive. . .Some are starting to perceive reality. From Heather Cox Richardson:
Social media has been flooded today with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices as reporters are covering that information. Daniel Laguna of LevelUp warned that Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese imports could raise the costs of gaming consoles by 40%, so that a PS5 Pro gaming system would cost up to $1,000. One of the old justifications for tariffs was that they would bring factories home, but when the $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced yesterday it would reduce its imports from China by half to avoid Trump-promised tariffs, it said it will shift production not to the U.S., but to Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil.
NPR just reported Trump thinks tariffs will encourage domestic manufacturing. So much for in depth reporting.
Something is rotten in the state of Trump. Remember when he was blathering on day after day about how he didn't need any more votes and he didn't care if people voted and he had a big secret with Mike Johnson and he ran the most idiotic 'campaign' rallies with absolutely no substance. And if he was trying to lose the election, he couldn't have done a better job. Remember the interviews with the black journalists or the rally with, we don't need any questions, let's just listen to Ave Maria and YMCA and his Spotify list??? WTF??? I mean he seemed to KNOW he didn't have to campaign and why is that exactly? And he knew we dems would roll over and accept the results of a free and fair election with no questions asked. I just find it mysterious that he won at all. All comments welcome.
NPR is garbage. When they started allowing corporations to underwrite their programming, the quality of their journalism has plummeted.
I gave up on NPR years ago, sadly. We are being so ill served by major media.
Or they didn't want to vote for a woman, perhaps?
This post alone was worth the subscription. I didn't see a single issue presented with which to disagree.
Another perspective worth mentioning and I recommend acting upon dates back to about 300 B.C., from the Greek comedy writer, Menander:
"At times, discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool."
Thanks for this link. I think my whole book club will benefit from a careful read.
All of us probably will benefit
I'm not concerned about re-living November 2024 in our rearview mirrors.
America's future will be a consequence of what we do next, going forward in the next two years.
The first item of business is to acknowledge that what worked great in the previous elections, as which was done perfectly this time, does not work now.
For example,
A perfectly piloted WW I Curtiss JN4 Jenny biplane flying against a WW II Messerschmidt BF-109 does not have good odds for a favorable outcome. No matter the skill of the pilot or her ground crew.
The old rules and methods did not work. They should have, but they didn't. Let's find a paradigm that reaches the bewitched.
Prinny: please let us know how it goes, any ideas generated etc.
Agreed. Read and shared this around yesterday.
One thing springs to mind we can all do today: if you don’t have a paid subscription to this substack, pony up, or if you do and can afford it, consider upgrading to the higher paid level. LKTIV deserves a reasonable return for his important work, never more so than now.
Americans United for separation of church and state
Lucian, I heartily approve. Rest well, and give Tuli some head and face rubs from me.
We all deserve an afternoon nap. Rest well!
Well... I start chemo on Monday. The operation (lumpectomy -- right breast) was successful and will probably be the easiest part of the whole process. I thought maybe I'd get a 50% discount on future squisho-grams, but they didn't lop the whole thing. Anyway -- that poor old boobie hasn't had this much attention in years. I feel good, no pain, but now they have to poison me and microwave me afterwards. Such a chore...
What I mean is -- based on recent current events, I wouldn't describe cancer treatment as comic relief, but it IS a distraction. (I want everyone to have MUCH better ways of comfort!!!)
During "infusion" (a word that makes me feel like a teabag) I'll be wearing an insanely expensive helmet called the Cold Cap which is supposed to prevent or at least reduce hair loss -- no one ever went broke capitalizing on human vanity. I will also have some magic salve that is supposed to preserve my eyebrows and eyelashes. We'll see. But I can promise one thing -- I WON'T miss my little moustache.
Pat the wife and your cats and watch screwball comedies.
Best wishes for a successful treatment, Marjorie.
Sure sounds like you're taking it on in the right spirit, Marjorie. Best wishes on getting through it with the least discomfort and most success possible.
Good luck, my dear.
Hoping your treatment goes smoothly
Wishing you a smooth and successful treatment. Rest well.
Healing thoughts to you
Be well and stay strong, Marjorie.
Have a nice weekend! Thanks for your column. I appreciate your insights.
Agreed, Lucian. Got some hard thinking to do.
Like you, I come from a long line of US warriors/people of service. I am myself a retired Naval officer having served a long career. Given same, I find myself emotionally ambiguous at best this post election/Veterans’ Day weekend. I do not think that I have personally ever felt this let down by fellow Americans who have chosen to re-elect our past perfidious potus whose both civil and criminal records pose too great a security risk to trust. Someone with such a record would be ineligible for entry into any branch of US service, much less chosen to lead the band, so to speak. But here we are —Americans have re-elected a felonious criminally convicted fraud, a sexual predator found liable for sexual assault who also conspired to subvert our democratic process for personal gain, who not only boasts of his autocratic ambitions and demands personal loyalty but also overtly displays fascistic proclivities antithetical to any oath of office, much less that of POTUS. His soldiers of sedition cruise our streets and highways in their Taliban-like trucks shamefully flying bastardized and desecrated American flags placing his orange likeness above Old Glory’s intended expression of country and Constitution. I am both demoralized and thoroughly pissed off. Given all that and like you, taking a temporary breather is likely a prudent choice. Going to kick back a bit and chill trying to reconcile reality🍻🇺🇸♾️
C. Dock Hooks, CDR/SEAL (Retired), Esq.
Sent from my iPad
My sentiments exactly but I couldn't say it as articulately! Bravo!
Come back and come flaming
On Wednesday after the distressing election results, we had to put our 17 year old cat down. Hie was a good boy and looked exactly like your cat.
Heartfelt sympathies, Gary. That's one of the hardest things any of us ever has to do. I wish you peace.
Gary, I’m very sorry for your loss of your beloved cat.
Sorry Gary... Heartbreaking 💔 🥲Hugs in your sadness... hope and light will prevail.
What a painful double whammy! May your heart be comforted.
I am so very sorry.
Dammit. We're lucky to have them as long as we do.
Kind thoughts to you.
Tuli looks in this picture like a noble cat on a pedestal. As for your recharging sabbatical, you are not the only person to take to his bed.
Since it's "Noirvember" at www.criterionchannel.com, I've watched a bunch of powerful films to take my mind off the current recriminations, real classics like Double Indemnity, Laura, The Maltese Falcon, Gilda, The Big Clock, High Sierra, and lesser known but very effective movies like On Dangerous Ground, The Crimson Kimono, and the restored version of The Naked City (1948)
Also the USSR 1967 adaptation of War and Peace in four parts, excellent stuff.
Also more naps, too!
Thanks for the reading/watching list!
Best one year streaming movie subscription $$ I ever spent ($109), in July. Many or most of the acting performances in those noir films stand up as iconic after over 60-70-80 years, plus they are exploiting universal themes of human passions, greed, chicanery and Faustian bargains, so it's not just suspense and thrills, etc.
Another good one out of many now up there is The Baron of Arizona, starring Vincent Price, one of his own favorites. But hey there are over 3000 films up there, plenty of great foreign films, no way can I watch too many before the sub renewal next year.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre stands up, too.
For those unfamiliar, Sierra Madre is the movie in which Bogart (Fred Dobbs) yells at Alfonso Bedoya, (as the character, "Gold Hat"), "If you're the police, where are your badges?"
"Bodges?" "We ain't got no bodges..."
Excellent choices.
A doozy of a week for sure. My sweet Archie 🐈⬛ and I have gone off grid as well. Wishing you , Tracy, and your “fur peeps” a peaceful, rejuvenating time. Thank you for all you do - please take care 🙏
Thank you, Karen!
Have a super nap Lucian. We all need “time off”. Not discussing much here. Rejuvenating. At grandson’s college diving competition. Then we’re going walking. Peace to all. Read Timothy Snyder today.
You deserve a nap if anyone does.
Thanks for all you have done for us these last difficult months and for what you will (I hope!) continue to do for us through the super-rough coming years.
I am mad as hell right now. I have cut off all MSM news. I am fighting to control my emotions. I need to find a group of my people to hide out with until I can be civil. I have already seen some of the MAGA hate.
I recently connected with a tiny group at an old Quaker Meeting House. All lefties, all old and we meditate together.
What a relief! Plus we’re over-dosing on wildlife artwork and cookies and decafe.
Sore winners, huh?
RIGHT!