It's strange, it feels alternately like this election is both hugely momentous and completely meaningless. In truth I'm not sure which outcome will be worse in the long term. Biden will put the mask back on and eat around the edges, but he's not going to do shit for most people; the systemic issues predate Trump by a long time. While I do think a Biden administration will be less harmful overall, I am concerned that it will put the populace to sleep. We're tired, we want a break, and a Biden presidency seems like a good excuse to do that. I have zero hope of anyone being able to push Biden to the left, but Trump's incompetence and just general terribleness has opened up the Overton Window some. In other words, I think a Biden victory will allow short-term improvement, even if that's just un-doing some of the damage Trump has done, but the long-term effects are far less certain. Trump gave us a chance to actually confront some of our deeper issues as a country, but we've instead spent our time hand-wringing about how he's uncouth in public. As long as the gun is shiny, we don't really care where it's pointed.
This is the way it's supposed to work: a locality tries something, and we all get to learn from seeing what works and what doesn't.
The thing is, nothing in here tells us anything about Trump we didn't already know. Mueller was not on a crusade, and he did what he is supposed to do. I question the DOJ's position that they cannot bring charges against a sitting president, but that was decided back in 2000 (under W) and isn't up to Mueller to decide. So he was careful to stay within the bounds of what he is legally allowed to do, although I think it comes through pretty clearly that he thinks Trump obstructed justice. But to me, the left's hope in Mueller as somehow causing a great deal of change was always going to be misplaced. No one who supports Trump was going to be convinced no matter what Mueller said, whereas no one else was waiting on Mueller to conclude that Trump had colluded with the Russians. Mueller showed clearly that there was collusion in the common use of the term, but there's enough wiggle room here for any Trump supporters to justify saying that the whole thing was a political ploy. As for what we do? Keep calm and carry on. Vote. Try to not be terrible to each other. Avoid pretending that we have more influence over broader events than we do.
Some fun facts: - the rate has been increasing steadily, up 30% since 1999 - 77% of suicide deaths are men (and the ratio is higher in every country in the world except for China) - The rate for white and Native American men is double that of black or Hispanic men
Well, "abusive behavior" isn't necessarily illegal, so that's the first point. The second is that this will absolutely wreck free speech online. Sites will have 0 incentive to not be overly aggressive in eliminating anything they think might theoretically piss off the authorities. It's expensive, and will harm smaller communities that don't have the resources to do this effectively. Even YouTube has struggled to address things like jihadi recruitment videos, and that's with the resources of one of the world's largest tech companies.
Neither of those links contradict either WaPo's editorial or the overwhelming consensus of economists. The link is to an editorial.opinionists masquerading as journalists.
There's a term for this in sociology/economics: privatized Keynesianism. The idea is that one of the reasons that debt levels are so high is that people are trying to maintain what a "middle class life" looked like (or should feel like) via debt. This hit a little close to home.Here’s the thing — and this confused me for a long time — premium mediocrity is not a consumption aesthetic, but a financial hack powering a deliberately crafted illusion that is being strategically crafted for a purpose.
The essence of premium mediocrity is being optimistically prepared for success by at least being in the right place at the right time, at least for a little while, even if you have no idea how to make anything happen during your window of opportunity.
ABC News is saying that it is: The general told confidants about his decision to plead guilty in the last 24 hours, according to people close to Flynn, who say the former adviser feels Trump has abandoned him and has agreed to answer questions about the president or anyone else. A brief statement released by Mueller’s team Friday morning does not say what information Flynn has provided the government as part of the deal, but people familiar with the agreement told ABC News Friday he has made a decision to assist investigators.
Trump is basically Bush 2.0: he's the culmination of the psychotic one-upsmanship that has been the GOP strategy for a couple of decades. The problem when you rely on riling people up to get elected is that you have to keep upping your game, and continue to make people angrier than they were last time around. Come the 2016 presidential election, the outrage fission reaction got away from them.
I expect there's a spectrum, yes. But I also think there's a broader cultural issue ... we just don't care about white collar crime very much, except for the occasional Madoff we have to throw to the lions.Are the Americans who receive money to lobby these causes (such as anti-Magnitsky) too lazy/unmotivated to research them, or are they completely devoid of conscience? Not necessarily an either-or type of question, I would guess that there's an entire spectrum there.
One of the things we learned in trial advocacy in law school was when to shut up. Sometimes the best thing you can do is let someone keep talking.
--Newt Gingrich on May 18.Robert Mueller is superb choice to be special counsel. His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity. Media should now calm down.