Friday

War - Middle East

Pompeo to Lebanon: Get rid of 2nd Iranian missile factory or face US-backed Israeli attack. It sure seems like the US and Israel do a hell of a lot more war than the Iranians. WTF!?

How the U.S. Shattered the Middle East



Live from Teabagistan

The roots of Trump and the Cult



Tweet of The Year

On Trump's Hurricane could hit Alabama, sharpie-edit.

Mexico will pay for the Sharpie

— Thanks For Sharing Jerk (@Thx4SharingJerk) September 5, 2019

Cults

Conservative Revolt Against Boris Johnson Exposes Republicans’ Complicity in the Cult of Trump

I keep saying this........ It is not the Cult of Trump it is the Cult of Fox News-Talk Radio Conservatism. Trump is just the current leader. Past leaders include Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, Bill O, etc. Trump is just the current leader and the first one to make it past the finish line in both the republican primary and general election.  

You can't fix or even battle a problem if you can't define it.

Capitalism

From the always good Stumbling and Mumbling: CAPITALISTS FOR CORBYN

Successful capitalism requires not just growth but also legitimacy. It’s not accident that, from the late 19th century onwards, almost all capitalist states developed degrees of redistributive taxation and welfare states. These were necessary to buy off public discontent. Something similar might be needed today. High inequality, crumbling public services and the inflicting of uncertainty and harassment upon millions of residents risk undermining public support for the existing order. In tackling these, Labour will help shore up the legitimacy of some sort of capitalist system.

I think he's right. When any system pushes the common folk down too hard they revolt. We've seen this recently with Trump and Brexit. The smart capitalists realize they need to throw the folks a few bones to keep them happy. We seem to have forgot this over the last 30-40 years.

Felix Salmon: 1 big thing: Disintegration

The bottom line: The postwar economic order was built on ever-increasing integration, and there is no precedent in modern history for how — or even whether — the global economy can cope with its opposite.

Also..

Politics

David Horsey is always good.  Still, this should also include a white evangelical woman waving a bible at some young folks.

Speaking of a white woman waving a bible.  My Son’s Freshman Orientation At Virginia Tech Was Full Of Leftist Propaganda - My gawd...the stupid hurts..  Penny Nance and people like her, need to be kept as far as possible from the levers of power in this country.


Found at "The Big Picture" but original here: Bruce Mehlman

For the last few years, I've been claiming that anyone with political history at a national level is going to hard to elect. There's just too much baggage available for the opposition. HRC was the poster child of too much baggage but McCain, Kerry, Dole, and Bush1 all had a lot of political history and were beaten by relatively unknown people. We live in an age of celebrity and wealth so a wealthy, unknown with no known political baggage has a much better chance than a known politician in a two person race.

Media - Whiners

New York Times Columnists vs. the Haters: A brief history of overreaction. - Good article. This reminds me of high school when the sports stars and rich kids got to run the place while the smart hippies, dopers, musicians, and artists made fun of them.



Medicare for All

+ Jim Naureckas: “I’d love to see someone conduct a poll: “If you were already getting free public health insurance, would you like to have the option to pay thousands of dollars a year to get the same kind of coverage from a for-profit insurer?”   ---  found here Roaming Charges" also the shot below.