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2:00PM Water Cooler 4/24/2023

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By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Patient readers, Philip Zelikow and the Covid Crisis Group have undertaken a PR blitz for their forthcoming book, Lessons From the Covid War, for which I must devise a hasty prophylaxis, since the book is coming out tomorrow. Hence this Water Cooler is an open thread. –lambert P.S. I could still use more plants! Directions below.

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Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From AM:

AM writes: “Magnolia blossoms beginning to come out in the shadow of Grace Church on Broadway, making my walk home more enjoyable!”

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

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80 comments

  1. Henry Moon Pie

    So I put this on Links just now and will be so presumptuous as to put it here. Tucker Carlson gave a speech to the lovely folks at the Heritage Foundation this past weekend. Fox’s competitor, Town Hall, has made a video compilation of his remarks here. His demeanor might make one think he already knew things were at an end with Fox. It’s an interesting indicator of the zeitgeist. Sort of “The End is near!”

    Tucker will be fine, I’m sure. The rest of us? I’m not so sure.

    1. Massinissa

      Tucker Carlson has enough of a fanbase that large parts of his audience will follow him where ever he goes.

      1. Wukchumni

        Where would he go aside from the other far right tv stations that have scant viewership compared to Fox?

        2. Barbara

          He’s had more people on of late telling the truth than MSNBC, CNN, et al ever dared to. Yes, he’ll be fine and hope he finds a home on Rumble where those brave people he admires now are happy enough. Nicely followed today by the latest from Lee Fang – another, brave truthteller.

          1. ChrisFromGA

            Someone should start a network with all of the “outliers” and truthtellers who don’t fit in a nice neoliberal/neoconservative box.

            Tucker Carlson, Tulsi, JFK Jr., etc.

            Of course, the Internet and Youtube/Rumble are there, but those are balkanized (perhaps that is the point.)

            Prediction – as they increasingly present only a bland, vanilla version of liberalism and conservatism, MSNBC/Fox/CNN will continue to see ratings fall, and eventually at least one maybe two go out of business. We end up with one state-sponsored cable network news channel here in the USA.

            2024 election coverage sneak preview:

            MSNBC/CNN: vote for President Kill!
            Fox: no, vote for our President Kill!

        3. Henry Moon Pie

          Wasn’t the scuttlebutt that Fox went along with Trump on the election and 1/6 because they were afraid Town Hall would overtake them?

        5. some guy

          If his fanbase follows him to those shows, he will turn their viewership from scant to large. As will Hannity – if fired from Fox. As might even Billo Reilly if he decides to join them there.

        7. lyman alpha blob

          I don’t think he’ll have a hard time making money doing the news if he still wants to. He did work at both MSNBC and CNN prior to Fox. Who knows, maybe Greenwald will hire him. That would be a hoot. I’d watch just to see what Carlson really thinks about any number of issues. While I’ve enjoyed his recent guests and some of his stories – he did a really good one a few years ago when he went after Paul Singer for his takeover of Cabela’s – I’ve also always been a bit suspicious of his true motives, if he has any, since he’s always seemed a little spook-adjacent to me. Mint Press had a piece on his ties to intelligence agencies, especially when he was younger – https://www.mintpressnews.com/tucker-carlson-biography-nicaragua-cia/279782/

    2. chris

      Also worth mentioning today, if it hasn’t been captured elsewhere, that Don Lemon is out at CNN too. I don’t think his leaving will have anywhere near the impact of Carlson leaving Fox. It will probably make CNN a much better place to work :)

      As for what comes next, unless there’s some wrinkles in a non-compete no one is aware of, Carlson could absolutely go the podcast route.

      For Lemon? Hopefully there’s a gutter for such an awful human being to waste away in for a few years. Everything that’s been reported about Lemon is that he was an awful and abusive colleague. Good riddance.

    3. bdy

      Watched the whole thing, thanks. I’ll forever give that guy the benefit of the doubt and call him deluded rather than cynical, where I disagree. Rogan’s blinders are far kinder to reality.

      Appreciated though, for giving a platform to Greenwald et. al. The herd mentality bit is spot on. Also, Kudos for identifying good/evil as a balance, rather than a conflict.

      Pooped the bed on the “ok here’s what we all know is ‘good’” bit. “Order and Cleanliness” says a lot. Still waiting for Justice, Kindness or Compassion.

      1. John

        Tucker is just jumping (or was kicked off) the dead stream media platform. He’ll do fine and will be available in another format.

      2. Henry Moon Pie

        Well, Tucker’s Christianity didn’t shine in that list. The Greek bible’s epistles are full of “tables of duties,” and order doesn’t show up on any of those lists. And Jesus was not known as a big “order” guy. But it sure puts him in with the Hobbesians.

  2. Skip Intro

    Lee Fang runs down Pfizer funding to vaccine mandate proponents in a new piece on his substack.

    In the midst of a contentious debate about Chicago’s plan to force employers to require their workers to take the COVID-19 vaccine, Karen Freeman-Wilson, president of the Chicago Urban League, appeared on television to dismiss complaints that such rules would disproportionately harm the Black community.

    “The health and safety factor here far outweighs the concern about shutting people out or creating a barrier,” Freeman-Wilson said on WTTW in August 2021.

    Earlier that year, her group had received a $100,000 grant from Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, for a project to promote “vaccine safety and effectiveness.” Although the Chicago Urban League is not normally shy about disclosing its corporate donors, the support from Pfizer is not listed in the “partners” section on its website. The drug industry funding likewise went unmentioned during the interview.

  3. Pat

    Grace Church and it’s garden is one of my favorite walk bys in NYC. Jefferson Market Library and it’s garden are another. Gotta love a beautiful historical building with a charming colorful garden.

    1. John Zelnicker

      Those tress are more appropriately called Japanese Magnolias. Very different from the Southern Magnolia, but very pretty when in full bloom like the Plantidote.

      1. Art_DogCT

        If NYC-adjacent folks would like to see a Southern Magnolia, there is one at the NY Botanical Garden in a sheltered location near the Haupt Conservatory. In the mid-80s it was considered by NYBG academic staff that it was the furthest north the species had been successfully cultivated. The decades since may have seen the species’ range extend north some.

    2. petal

      The 3 magnolias up against the local Catholic church here were blooming this weekend. Quite a show.

  4. Roger Blakely

    At last week’s media briefing the Los Angeles County Dept. Public Health reported that wastewater concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 are lower than they have been since mid-October. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 is at 2%. The prevalence of XBB.1.5 is at 70%.

    I am sure that by mid-summer there will be plenty of XBB.1.16 for everyone to enjoy.

  5. Carla

    We are just completing a 1,000-mile drive from NE Ohio to N Carolina & back, on I-77. The magenta redbud and white dogwood growing wild on either side of the highway have made it a spectacularly pretty trip.

  6. Hepativore

    So, Biden is apparently going to launch his 2024 presidential campaign, tomorrow, yet 70% of Democratic voters want another candidate, so there is a huge enthusiasm gap.

    It is sad to the the DNC engage in elder abuse like this, as Biden belongs in a nursing home, not on the campaign trail, as his cognitive decline has made him almost unable to form a coherent sentence.

      1. Not Again

        Going all in on an 82 year old dementia patient shows you what the Dem Party thinks of you. They haven’t been this obtuse since – oh – 2016.

        1. Daryl

          Huh. Getting a little tinfoily here, but not that much given the history of the D party and its primaries: Wonder if the plan is for Biden to suddenly develop a desire to spend more time with friends and family after the primaries are over. Paving the way for whatever cardboard cutout they select as his running mate.

    2. some guy

      Considering all the citizen abuse that Biden has committed or empowered over the decades, I don’t feel sorry for him being elder abused, if that is what this is. Karma and all that . . .

      That said, I will vote for Biden before I vote for De Satanis. Hey! Maybe Trump and DeSatanis will bury the hatchet and run together. Trump can play the Wise Elder and DeSatanis can patiently wait his turn, knowing that he is just a sick old heartbeat away from the Presidency.

      Trump-DeSantis.
      https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=sfp&ei=UTF-8&p=you+tube+yeah+that%27s+the+ticket#id=1&vid=88aaf9aede0ac3aa9a6936f81e096d3e&action=click

      1. JBird4049

        The Trump-DeSantis Ticket. Oh, goodie. The only worse, but still practical tickets would be DeSantis-Pence or another Trump-Pence although Pence would want to bury the hatchet in Trump and not the ground.

        I surprised that I can be… not pleased as much as relieved. I am very behind my reading about the national Republican Party’s factions and their players; so, I am just running on my gut rather than actual factual knowledge, but with the Orange Menace likely to flatten DeSantis and all the other likely candidates being pushed aside, hopefully for the entire 2024 presidential run, the Trump Cult of Personality will face Kamala(?)-Biden. The Christian Nationalists faction is looking sideline until 2028. I think that if it is President Trump again, the least religious, pro business, semi-sane remnants of the Republican Party will either be de jure members of the Democratic Party, being Republicans in name only. The most “liberal” part of the Republicans overlap economically with the most business friendly faction of the Democratic Party. Add that these two factions are all war, all the time, and in practice hate the poor and working class Americans regardless of those Americans ideology.

        From what I can see, which isn’t very much, combined, they have the allegiance of the CIA-FBI-NSA and adjacent organizations plus the Navy and much of the Army.

        I do not know what Trump’s faction is, but it is likely the many gendarmerized county sheriffs and city police departments, plus the Border Patrol-Immigration-ATF and their adjacent organizations. I would add the USAF and the various armed right wing increasingly wannabe paramilitary groups. However, much of his support would be of very conservative, ultranationalist, Christians who are not your normal Baptists and Methodists. Yet, it is not clear just how many of Trump’s supporters are Trump supporters or are of the large Christian Nationalist faction likely to have him as the least bad choice.

        It is getting opaque again and it looks like I have some serious reading this summer to get some better understanding. Although I think that any actual militarized conflict has been pushed back to the 2028 elections, really the period of 2026-28, right now, it’s all suppositions, guesstimates, and duct tape. But there are reasons why I have started to note which part of security state is supportive of what faction. The United States is riddled with armed governmental organizations each with their own intelligence unit. Yes, this does include the Postal Service. Then there are the wealthy elites and their factions each with preferred political factions although their main goal is to save the money.

        My guess is Trump to win, followed by Kennedy, then whoever is Biden’s Brain or Kamala’s Controller (the one holding dirt on her). And it is getting stressful enough that it is coming to the CIA and FBI doing dirty tricks like planting child porn and the occasional assassination. The same thing with the state and local police with many of them already having a violent history of political repression, violent, false arrests, and the very occasional assassination. I say that it is coming to deliberate and planned violence like that of the 1960s because we are reaching or have already passed the level of societal pressure; even the government and the police will act like anyone else from feeling it. Nobody that they hurt then has to have been doing anything different from the past.

        My, we are one big happy family. I know that my country has had four centuries of political violence, but I tend to not feel much about it except for being thankful for not being in it. But, I have heard said somewhere, interesting history is other people’s bad times. And America cycles in and out of the violence with the upswing happening when the nation’s problems are not dealt with. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and our lengthening time of paralysis imposed by both local and national elites is creating so many problems.

    1. Pat

      Well there’s a shocker….not.

      The only way there will be primary debates is if Biden seriously collapses or dies. Then it will be a way to clear the road for the candidate select. Kamala or Pete or…nobody any one with half a brain would want anywhere near the presidency will be allowed.

      1. Hepativore

        The DNC is aghast that anybody would dare question Dear Leader (Biden), and that the peasantry is not showing proper veneration of their lords.

        After all, if the Democratic Party held debates in 2024, then the deplorables might start getting ideas above their station.

        1. chris

          They’re trying to figure out what to do. Biden had one huge advantage last time – it didn’t seem too odd for an old man to be hiding in his basement and not making regular appearances during a pandemic. Now? Now if he can’t campaign it will really look funny. It makes sense to delay any campaigning until they absolutely have no choice if they want Biden to stick around. From what I’ve heard they don’t even have a 2024 campaign manager for Team Biden yet. So why would they want to start campaigning?

          1. Pelham

            It will look especially funny if Biden doesn’t hit the campaign trail after he personally declared Covid to be over. Then again, it’s already funny that anyone spending time with Biden has to undergo a PCR test beforehand.

            1. lyman alpha blob

              My better half met Jill Biden a couple weeks ago and was required to be tested before getting anywhere near her. Clearly, like Clinton and any number of politicians, the Bidens have public and private views on the matter.

          2. some guy

            I either remember reading or hearing in a lecture once that years ago in the Soviet Union, Brezhnev spent his last years in very bad health. And Andropov wanted his job.
            So Andropov started making dynamic high-profile appearances all around the USSR, a form of “campaigning” if you will, and made Brezhnev feel as if he needed to get out and about more in public view as well, which may have hastened his death. And the theory is that that is exactly the outcome Andropov was trying to achieve.

            So if some aggressive young DemNom wannabe were to start aggressively “campaigning” all over the country in order to shame and embarrass Biden into making at least some physically stressful and health-compromising public appearances, that aggressive young wannabe might be able to hasten Biden’s death or at least visible collapse.

            Sanders could do it one last time, but Sanders never would. He considers any Republican President such a deadly danger that he will support Biden or Harris or Buttigieg or any other Clintobamacrat as hard as he can to keep the deadly danger Republicans out of office.

            1. NotTimothyGeithner

              RFK Jr is still Kennedy trash. He’s not the guy. Pritzker is interesting. 2028 is wide open without the Harris hydra to slay. Harris won’t ever win on her own, but she might sink someone. I imagine the pretenders are waiting on a sacrificial lamb. The veep’s office can demand a sacrifice.

              1. chris

                If I have to choose between icky families, I choose Kennedy. The weirdo Pritzkers are too much for me. RFK Jr. has a lot of problems – his speaking voice being one of them, but I can forgive his vaccine ramblings in light of everything Pritzker is attached to.

    2. nippersdad

      I have been wondering if there is a connection between the DNC not wanting to have debates and Tucker Carlson getting booted at FOX. Parts of RFK’s announcement speech about corporate media power were compelling, and Carlson seemed pretty interested in talking about that.

      Uniparty damage control? Renewal of the Fairness Doctrine might be a threat to the cartel? They might end up with a problem they can’t write off of their taxes this time.

      1. pjay

        I’ve been reading the breaking news stories about Carlson. Way too many to keep up with; the spinning and speculation are coming fast and furious. But one of the pieces I did read (can’t recall who; I’ll try to find it) argued that Carlson giving Kennedy a friendly platform and (especially) giving a scathing editorial against Big Pharma *and its media enablers – including Fox* – was a factor.

        Who knows? It will be interesting to see what, if anything, emerges. Regardless, the women of The View are positively giddy: Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

        1. nippersdad

          I just saw this….

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_l2Dr2nkA

          …on how some followers of Marianne Williamson were censored over their posts on Tiktok. It reminded me of those stories about the Biden Administration fielding an army of Tiktok “influencers”. I think they really do need to watch themselves. This, in conjunction with the Taibbi stories about the Twitter files, is a very bad look. By the time actual campaign season rolls around, Biden may not be able to use the term “democracy” as anything but a punch line.

          Obvs nothing about media censorship will come as any surprise to Sanders voters, but this sounds like it is actually getting through this time.

          1. Hepativore

            Do not be surprised if the calls to ban Tik Tok and pass the RESTRICT Act get renewed if Marianne Williamson continues to surge on the platform.

      2. NotTimothyGeithner

        I was impressed by the ratings remaining strong, but the slot probably carries the day. Business decisions get made from time to time. Its not like his show on msdnc with Al Sharpton did well.

        Wins Above Replacement still matters. Tucker is just a goon at the end of the day.

        Full disclosure. I saw his msdnc show in cville years ago, and he repeated a joke (giving credit to the wrong person) I said on air to AL Sharpton. I may be giving him too much credit.

      3. petal

        Soooo…RFK Jr is speaking at an event here on Wed. It’s a roundtable discussion about vaccine mandates and Covid vaccine injuries. I only found out about it because our dept chair blasted a scathing response today and he announced he is going to go and push back against them. I can probably go, but I’m kind of afraid to in case the dept chair sees me. I wish I could post what he sent out so you guys could read it. I’ve been disgusted all day. He’s been inserting his politics in since gaining the chair, and as many of you know I was vaccine injured(autoimmunity majorly triggered) after being forced to get it by my employer.

        Name of event:”College Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates – Scientific, Ethical and Legal Considerations: A Roundtable Discussion”

        https://dailyclout.io/robert-kennedy-jr-to-be-special-guest-at-college-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-scientific-ethical-and-legal-considerations-a-roundtable-discussion-and-dinner-event/

        1. ambrit

          Hmmm…. A space here for some monkeywrenching. If you know your Department Chair’s arguments in favour of the mRNA vaccine, why not send them to RFK Jr’s ‘handlers?’ Do it through third and fourth hand and make the Chair’s mediocrity apparent to one and all. Ask the event sponsors if they intend to broadcast the “debate.” Then sit back and enjoy the funfrom a distance. (Shouldn’t the college radio station cover this kind of event? RFK Jr. visiting is “NEWS.”) Ideally, do these things by yourself. The fewer co-conspirators, the better.
          If the Department Chair has his or her own letterheads, send the compromising information on that and imply that it is an “inside job.” Always wear gloves. Fingerprints are just as dangerous as the fiercest pathogen. Added precaution, revise the list of information through the ChatGPT function to scramble syntax and hide personal identifiers.
          At the worst, (and safest for you,) you could do nothing and rest assured that the visiting cadre will impart to your Department Chair the very best of the new Coronavirus variants.
          Stay safe.

          1. petal

            They sold the radio station a few years ago. Sad. I think the College is trying to keep this event as unpublicised as possible. It is being coordinated by an alumni group, but still-usually there’s some whiff of things through the usual channels. I am usually up on upcoming events, but had not seen or heard anything about this one until he threw a hissy and blasted out to the dept.
            It will be live-streamed, so it says. I think that is in the second link at the bottom of my post.
            I am too afraid of getting found out. He has to sign off on my annual review. If that makes me look weak, so be it.

            1. ambrit

              In all seriousness, look after yourself in this best of all possible Neo-liberal H—scapes.
              Take comfort in the knowledge that this clown will eventually trip over it’s own shoelaces. One idea on how to spotlight this is to have a “Present Unshakable Beliefs” bulletin board in the Student Union. Have actual students put up the information. As the winds of fashion change directions, highlight the sudden ‘shifts’ in certain Academic’s “Unshakable Beliefs.” As long a scurrility is kept out of the messaging, the only rationale that the Administration could use to suppress Student Free Speech would be ‘Brute Force.’ [that admission, either overt or covert would be extremely “educational” in and of itself, thus fulfilling the basic mission of a school.]
              I empathize fully. I have “watched my tongue” to maintain needed employment myself. I rationalize it to myself as being not so much timidness as self-preservation. A Prepper would say that you were; “Going Greyman.”
              All the best in your “Hostile Work Environment.”

      4. flora

        I’ve been a registered Dem my entire adult life, (which is fairly long now). Am I to accept the central party Dem is telling who I’m to vote for, they will make my decision for me in the so-called primary? I don’t thing so. No. Sorry.

        Why is the Dem central party afraid of letting Joe B on stage in open-ish debate with RFKjr or with Marianne Williams or with any other Dem primary competitors.

        Inquiring minds want to know. / ;)

        1. nippersdad

          Yup. They had to talk me into voting for Pritzker Obama the first time, and that is the last time I made that mistake. They are welcome to propose any .lizard person one they like, but at some point they are going to have to realize that we can dispose with them as we please.

          I really don’t care if Trump wins again. In many ways he was very amusing (The high point of his presidency, IMHO, was when he used his crayons to change weather maps instead of just eating them) and he certainly was no worse than our present pResident.

          His son in fighting in Ukraine and having a former CIA agent on his campaign is still disturbing to me, but I would vote for Kennedy (or Williamson) (or AfroMan 2020FRO) in a heartbeat over Biden. As one person does not a demographic make, I am pretty sure they are aware of the zeitgeist around that guy.

          He is just an undead man walking.

      5. Daryl

        The Dems strategy in 2020 was basically just not to have Biden campaign at all. Appears they’re trying to double down, doubt that will work particularly well in 2024 when Trump can hit the campaign trail again.

        1. Pat

          Biden makes HRC look like a brilliant campaigner. He was bad at it before his brain started disintegrating. The CT part of my psyche has leaned to the lockdowns being more to keep Joe from campaigning live as to protect Americans. This is especially hard to shake years on since pretty much every action since has made it clear that the Top Democrats don’t give a flying fig for public health.

          The Democrats are royally screwed. Fear of Trump may save the Presidency, but they have to know that a long campaign may make cranky disagreeable bully Biden as necessary to hide as his increasing dementia and probably just as impossible.

  8. pjay

    Considering the “lessons” Zelikow and his 9/11 Commission provided us for our “war on terrorism,” I can’t wait to hear about those they learned from the “COVID War.”

    Funny how the same names keep coming up in such inquiries. Was Lee Hamilton in that Crisis Group by any chance?

  9. dcblogger

    How America’s elites use guns to destroy solidarity:

    “Much better is to pour arms unrestricted into the population, give them legal cover and political encouragement to take political matters into their own hands with laws like “Stand Your Ground”. That way you wind up creating a political culture of atomized, fear-fueled citizens who think they’re literally at war with each other, and their only way out is to fend for themselves and their family.”

    https://truthout.org/articles/from-operation-wetback-to-newtown-tracing-the-hick-fascism-of-the-nra/

    1. some guy

      What if Americans-in-solidarity were to use guns to destroy America’s elites?

      Or at least what if enough hick-socialists got as many guns as the hick-fascists to be able to deter the hick-fascists from making their move?

      And which “America’s elites” are we talking about anyway? The NRA? Those are America’s elites? They are more ” the elites” than all the PMCs who worry about all those millions of guns in the hands of all those millions of people with the wrong color neck?

      1. Hepativore

        The elites also control most aspects of law enforcement and the military forces which have weapons and hardware that could put the home firearms of most people to shame, and do not think said elites would hesitate to use both of them to put down any sort of disobedience or insurrection.

        You might get a few detractors within the police or military ranks themselves, but these will probably fewer and fewer as more enlistees become used to the idea, just like how people have gotten used to US-sanctioned torture after Bush Jr.

    2. Henry Moon Pie

      It seems to be working pretty well. I’d hate to be delivering packages or food to anybody’s doorstep these days.

  10. nippersdad

    OK, running down my favorite “influencer” list on Ytube, we apparently have a new contender running as an Independent: AfroMan 2020FRO.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi805_77V-U

    He apparently had his house invaded last year by the cops and they were caught on his security feed, but the cool part is that he used the footage in one of his rap videos, one of which was entitled Will You Help Me Repair My Door? Even better, the cops are now suing him for invasion of their privacy!

    I think AfroMan 2020FRO just earned $27 from the Nipper household.

      1. nippersdad

        Thanks! That was really funny. I loved the Lemon Poundcake video that came after it as well.

        Highly recommended.

  11. Phenix

    Can we take any pride in the fact that it took them (real fascists) 80 years to overtly overthrow our republic. I count 2016 as the year when the National Security State step out of the shadows to exert it’s control.

  12. Duke of Prunes

    Had an interesting conversation with a cab driver a few days ago. He was a 60-ish Polish guy who spoke very broken English. I didn’t understand about every 10th word, but generally got the gist of what he was saying. He had a sharp wit and made me laugh a few times with his quips. He had lived in the US since he was a young man.

    The topic of Ukraine came up, and he essentially said that Europe and Russia were getting too close so the US started this war to break them apart and bring Europe back the US. I think he was a bit surprised when I agreed with him. My conclusion is that either he reads NC or his Polish news sources are also saying this. It’s the first time I’ve heard this outside of NC (and various links published by NC).

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      Lambert hates the phrase “low info voters”, but I’ve always found low info voters were sharper than dunces who watch cable news and subscribe to cage liners as a social status symbol.

      Tom Friedman parallels aside, cabbies know more than Karens.

      1. Pat

        Having used ride shares a lot going between jobs back before Covid, I will say that having a Karen interrupt a conversation between me and the driver to berate my lack of knowledge was fun. I wasn’t sure how he took this since it probably cost him a tip, only to have him say after she left…”The internet expert got off Facebook after the election, when did you get off?” 2010, I got tired of fighting to get their intrusive cookies off my computer and not always succeeding.” “2007, a friend who enjoys reading user agreements pointed out they were saying they own everything you post there. It wouldn’t hold up but who would have the money to fight them if they decided some photo or story or worse a business idea you put there could make them big money. And she thought their running the wrong ads was a problem.”

        Bus drivers are also pretty interesting….

    1. flora

      Holy Cr@p! The modern inquisition demands obedience! “Off with her [his] head!” – the Queen of Hearts (*Alice in Wonderland).

        1. flora

          adding: AOC , showing up to a fashionable gathering in a designer white confection of fabric meringue and strawberry colored icing piping with an eat me (or them) trope doesn’t surprise me with her latest obeisance to the machine. / oy

          1. flora

            adding: Tucker Carlson is the most watched MSM news show in the US. Imagine the pol-machine shutting down the US’s Walter Cronkite or the Huntley-Brinkely evening news shows back in the day.

    2. nippersdad

      So weird. When I first saw your comment I clicked it and watched the end. When I clicked it again to see the beginning there is this notice that the video is unavailable. When I went over to my Dore tab on Ytube, it wasn’t showing there, either.

      That must have been a pretty good segment.

  14. Wukchumni

    The Big Melt starts in earnest in a bit in the High Sierra with the melt-freeze cycle gone for about 5 days as the temperature will always be above freezing in that time span @ 9.500 feet.

    There was over 21 feet of snow at Panther Gap @ 8,650 feet in early April, so i’m guessing there must be well over 30 feet of snow waiting to morph into running water.

    1. The Rev Kev

      One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons – roughly 1,234,044 liters. I wonder how much water would be in a “acre-foot’ of snow then. My initial answer would be…..a lot.

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