I do not understand how it apparently escapes Trumpistas' notice that their Fearless Leader is now causing them (along with everybody else) Enormous Economic Damage.
I do not understand how it apparently escapes Trumpistas' notice that their Fearless Leader is now causing them (along with everybody else) Enormous Economic Damage.
The ground troops on the right have been ignoring their actual economic well being for 40 years, as they keep voting for people who make it worse.
I do not understand how it apparently escapes Trumpistas' notice that their Fearless Leader is now causing them (along with everybody else) Enormous Economic Damage.
The ground troops on the right have been ignoring their actual economic well being for 40 years, as they keep voting for people who make it worse.
The Guardian reports that the police are not looking for another suspect, and that AT&T may indeed have been a target, due to Warner being paranoid about 5G technonolgy.
I do not understand how it apparently escapes Trumpistas' notice that their Fearless Leader is now causing them (along with everybody else) Enormous Economic Damage.
It's the fault of:
The Deep State; the Clintons; Mexicans; "Liberals" ...
Trump’s global legacy will be Trumpism. It will live on; toxic, immoral, vicious and ever-threatening. It appeals to every worst human instinct, justifies every vile prejudice, excuses every mean and unkind thought.
Personally, I am praying that better instincts will emerge, prosper, and gradually consign Trumpism to the dark place in history it richly deserves.
Last headline I saw said he was "considering,"
not signing. Guy simply cannot bear being out of limelight. God help us Jan. 21 on. Biden and Harris may come to regret running.
I think maybe sometimes people do that if a child is missing or murdered. Solving a terrorist bombing might be a reason, too.
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
I think maybe sometimes people do that if a child is missing or murdered. Solving a terrorist bombing might be a reason, too.
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
They have the identity of the bomber and his remains ...
His motive apparently wasn't political, but personal ...
I think maybe sometimes people do that if a child is missing or murdered. Solving a terrorist bombing might be a reason, too.
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
Several questions remain. For one, were there any other co conspirators--that is a very important question.
Two, reports say he had cancer, but I do not think that it is confirmed.
Three: Did he choose AT&T because of their conversion to 5G technology?
Technically, the investigation will be finished only when a coroner's report comes available.
Please--the Biden administration does not take over on 21 January 2021, but 20 January 2021 at 12:01.
I took @Ohher to be saying God help us from the day after Biden’s inauguration—when the confetti has been swept up and the business of governing is front and center, and when Trump is not president when he wakes up—onward through the Biden presidency, during which Trump will stir up who knows what.
Please--the Biden administration does not take over on 21 January 2021, but 20 January 2021 at 12:01.
I took @Ohher to be saying God help us from the day after Biden’s inauguration—when the confetti has been swept up and the business of governing is front and center, and when Trump is not president when he wakes up—onward through the Biden presidency, during which Trump will stir up who knows what.
He is not going to wait until the morning of 21 January to raise trouble. He is already planning a parallel inauguration at Mar-a-lago on 20 Jan.
I think maybe sometimes people do that if a child is missing or murdered. Solving a terrorist bombing might be a reason, too.
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
Several questions remain. For one, were there any other co conspirators--that is a very important question.
Two, reports say he had cancer, but I do not think that it is confirmed.
Three: Did he choose AT&T because of their conversion to 5G technology?
And Four: Why did he choose Downtown as his send-off number?
I feel kinda bad for Petula Clark, since that song always struck me as having some genuine emotional basis to it. I wonder why Warner couldn't have picked some schlocky piece of sentimental dross for his big shebang. I won't mention any selections, but I'm thinking of the kinda stuff that was lighting up our lives in the 1970s.
Please--the Biden administration does not take over on 21 January 2021, but 20 January 2021 at 12:01.
I took @Ohher to be saying God help us from the day after Biden’s inauguration—when the confetti has been swept up and the business of governing is front and center, and when Trump is not president when he wakes up—onward through the Biden presidency, during which Trump will stir up who knows what.
He is not going to wait until the morning of 21 January to raise trouble. He is already planning a parallel inauguration at Mar-a-lago on 20 Jan.
I read it as a figure of speech, not to be taken or applied literally.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking it might have been used to a similar purpose in a movie, but that may be wrong.
If you check the YouTube comments for the song, in addition to the innumerable "Nashville 2020!" posts, you can find people endlessly repeating the names of movies and TV shows it's been used in.
Off the top, I'm remembering people saying Girl Interrupted(which I've seen but only remember Why Does The Sun Keep On Shining), Seinfeld, and The Simpsons. There might have been some others, but I don't recall anyone mentioning a bombing scene.
Please--the Biden administration does not take over on 21 January 2021, but 20 January 2021 at 12:01.
Except ... The power balance in the Senate (not yet settled) will decide the degree to which the Biden Administration will be allowed to take over ...
Until the Biden administration takes over Republicans will control the Senate, even if Democrats win both seats in Georgia. Democratic control is contingent on winning both of Georgia's seats in the U.S. Senate and Kamala Harris (part of the Biden administration) being the tie-breaking vote.
And Four: Why did he choose Downtown as his send-off number?
Let's think about that for a minute.
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown
Seems like something that would appeal to a disgruntled and alienated man.
And Four: Why did he choose Downtown as his send-off number?
Let's think about that for a minute.
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown
Seems like something that would appeal to a disgruntled and alienated man.
Except that blowing yourself up indicates that you've given up on the hope that is symbolized by downtown in the song.
Unless he was putting an ironic twist on the lyrics. "Yeah, I'll cheer myself up. By going downtown. And obliterating myself."
My guess is he just liked the song, lyrically, musically, whatever, and wanted it to be the last thing he heard this side of kingdom come.
And I don't think anyone has noted that, in a city very closely associated with a particular style of music, he chose a song not generally identified with that genre.
I think maybe sometimes people do that if a child is missing or murdered. Solving a terrorist bombing might be a reason, too.
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
Several questions remain. For one, were there any other co conspirators--that is a very important question.
Two, reports say he had cancer, but I do not think that it is confirmed.
Three: Did he choose AT&T because of their conversion to 5G technology?
And Four: Why did he choose Downtown as his send-off number?
I feel kinda bad for Petula Clark, since that song always struck me as having some genuine emotional basis to it. I wonder why Warner couldn't have picked some schlocky piece of sentimental dross for his big shebang. I won't mention any selections, but I'm thinking of the kinda stuff that was lighting up our lives in the 1970s.
I don't remember the English lyrics, but only the German ...
"Downtown ... Da wirst du Dinge erleben, die sind wunderbar ..."
Sarcasm ... ???
I think Downtown is playing when one of the characters hangs themself in the Girl Interrupted movie or at least that character was obsessed with the song. I haven't been able to listen to it without feeling disturbed since seeing that movie.
I think Downtown is playing when one of the characters hangs themself in the Girl Interrupted movie or at least that character was obsessed with the song. I haven't been able to listen to it without feeling disturbed since seeing that movie.
The song played when the girl hangs herself is Why Does The Sun Keep On Shining. Or at least, that's what's playing when the other girls find her.
Just watched the relevant scene on YouTube. Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie sing it late at night in the hospital. I think it's supposed to be a happy moment.
Interesting: Trump was so quick to condemn the violence of Black Lives Matter and Antifa, but he has yet to say anything about the Nashville bombing, However, Biden has commended the first responders, especially the police officers who risked their lives to get people to evacuate the area. Thanks to them, only three people were injured and no one was killed except for the bomber.
Trump’s global legacy will be Trumpism. It will live on; toxic, immoral, vicious and ever-threatening. It appeals to every worst human instinct, justifies every vile prejudice, excuses every mean and unkind thought.
Personally, I am praying that better instincts will emerge, prosper, and gradually consign Trumpism to the dark place in history it richly deserves.
Trump-ism = Fascism ... It didn't begin with Trump, and it won't end on January 21 ...
I think you are spot on about "Trumpism" not ending with the Trump Presidency.
I have read the first few chapters of Before The Storm, the Ron Pearlstein book on the history of the Republican Party starting on or about VJ Day. Thankyou to Croesus and others for the recommendation. He is very readable, and his bias is clear (always handy in an historian).
The alliance brewing in the 50's between the isolationist Republicans (named for Robert Taft) and the Southern Democrats is pretty much Trump's politics. I am tempted to say that Trump is in the mold of Goldwater, and that's true concerning their backgrounds, but I don't yet know whether Goldwater was a hollow man, an authoritarian and a fool like Trump.
The point is that as Croesus and others have repeated ad nauseum, Trump is only unique in his incompetence. In policy and practice, he is rooted in American tradition, an unholy combination of isolationism, racism and electoral fraud, not from the darkness of the American soul, but from its political heartland. I think I am finally beginning to understand my American host-family's politics.
Edit: For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying that this is the only American tradition.
Just watched the relevant scene on YouTube. Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie sing it late at night in the hospital. I think it's supposed to be a happy moment.
I must have got the songs mixed up. Angelina Jolie's character is pretty disturbing and cruel in the movie which is probably why I no longer find Down Town to be a happy song.
Trump’s global legacy will be Trumpism. It will live on; toxic, immoral, vicious and ever-threatening. It appeals to every worst human instinct, justifies every vile prejudice, excuses every mean and unkind thought.
Personally, I am praying that better instincts will emerge, prosper, and gradually consign Trumpism to the dark place in history it richly deserves.
Trump-ism = Fascism ... It didn't begin with Trump, and it won't end on January 21 ...
I think you are spot on about "Trumpism" not ending with the Trump Presidency.
I have read the first few chapters of Before The Storm, the Ron Pearlstein book on the history of the Republican Party starting on or about VJ Day. Thankyou to Croesus and others for the recommendation. He is very readable, and his bias is clear (always handy in an historian).
The alliance brewing in the 50's between the isolationist Republicans (named for Robert Taft) and the Southern Democrats is pretty much Trump's politics. I am tempted to say that Trump is in the mold of Goldwater, and that's true concerning their backgrounds, but I don't yet know whether Goldwater was a hollow man, an authoritarian and a fool like Trump.
The point is that as Croesus and others have repeated ad nauseum, Trump is only unique in his incompetence. In policy and practice, he is rooted in American tradition, an unholy combination of isolationism, racism and electoral fraud, not from the darkness of the American soul, but from its political heartland. I think I am finally beginning to understand my American host-family's politics.
Edit: For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying that this is the only American tradition.
Yes ... As we age we tend to become more so what we were when we were younger ...
Goldwater was essentially a Libertarian ... He also had an internalized moral compass ...
As for what a libertarian with an internalized moral compass looked like in 1964 American conservatism, Goldwater's signature issue during his presidential campaign was opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I feel that the prospect of Senator Goldwater being president of the United States so threatens the health, morality, and survival of our nation that I can not in good conscience fail to take a stand against what he represents.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It should be noted that most of the people deeply involved in opposing the Civil Rights Movement also couched their opposition to black equality in "libertarian" terms. It's entirely uncoincidental that the only states Goldwater carried in 1964 were his home state of Arizona, Georgia, and the four states carried by Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948.
Goldwater was essentially a Libertarian ... He also had an internalized moral compass ...
As for what a libertarian with an internalized moral compass looked like in 1964 American conservatism, Goldwater's signature issue during his presidential campaign was opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I feel that the prospect of Senator Goldwater being president of the United States so threatens the health, morality, and survival of our nation that I can not in good conscience fail to take a stand against what he represents.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It should be noted that most of the people deeply involved in opposing the Civil Rights Movement also couched their opposition to black equality in "libertarian" terms. It's entirely uncoincidental that the only states Goldwater carried in 1964 were his home state of Arizona, Georgia, and the four states carried by Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948.
I can believe that there were sincere libertatians who were opposed to integration being forced upon private businesses as a matter of principle, free of any racial animosity. (Basically, to rework the old anti-censorship slogan: I disagree with how you run your lunch counter, but I'll defend to the death your right to run it that way.)
However, before I defend a politician playing the private-property card on integregation, I'd also need to see evidence that he was a consistent defender of private-property on other issues, like say for example, the right to use your body for homosexual relations, or the right to burn an American flag. And I'm pretty sure Barry Goldwater in 1964, who was playing footsie with the John Birch Society, was not that kind of conservative.
I can believe that there were sincere libertatians who were opposed to integration being forced upon private businesses as a matter of principle, free of any racial animosity. (Basically, to rework the old anti-censorship slogan: I disagree with how you run your lunch counter, but I'll defend to the death your right to run it that way.)
Libertarianism has long meant liberty for the better-off and lack of liberty for the worse-off. It is the worship of the status quo.
I can believe that there were sincere libertatians who were opposed to integration being forced upon private businesses as a matter of principle, free of any racial animosity. (Basically, to rework the old anti-censorship slogan: I disagree with how you run your lunch counter, but I'll defend to the death your right to run it that way.)
Libertarianism has long meant liberty for the better-off and lack of liberty for the worse-off. It is the worship of the status quo.
Well, it depends how you define "liberty". Under the most narrow definition(ie. the one used by libertarians), in the absence of a welfare-state, trade unions etc, the rich man and the poor man can still both have the same amount of liberty, in the sense of freedom from STATE control.
However, under those circumstances, the poor man is going to have far fewer options as to how he exercices his liberty than does the rich man. To quote someone else's argument, "There is not much point in saying that everyone has the right to read what they want, if large numbers of people can't afford to buy books and there are no libraries".
And yes, that does qualify as worshiping, and in fact exacerbating, the status quo.
Goldwater was essentially a Libertarian ... He also had an internalized moral compass ...
As for what a libertarian with an internalized moral compass looked like in 1964 American conservatism, Goldwater's signature issue during his presidential campaign was opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I feel that the prospect of Senator Goldwater being president of the United States so threatens the health, morality, and survival of our nation that I can not in good conscience fail to take a stand against what he represents.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It should be noted that most of the people deeply involved in opposing the Civil Rights Movement also couched their opposition to black equality in "libertarian" terms. It's entirely uncoincidental that the only states Goldwater carried in 1964 were his home state of Arizona, Georgia, and the four states carried by Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..." .. Goldwater was NOT a malignant narcissist, a psychopath, however ...
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
___
Not sure if this got posted yet, but the New York Post which has long supported Trump and is his favorite go-to paper published an editorial yesterday saying it is time for Trump to Stop the Insanity I do not agree with many of its points, but I wonder if Trump can stop his insanity.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
You assume they're two different groups of people.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
You assume they're two different groups of people.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
___
Not sure if this got posted yet, but the New York Post which has long supported Trump and is his favorite go-to paper published an editorial yesterday saying it is time for Trump to Stop the Insanity I do not agree with many of its points, but I wonder if Trump can stop his insanity.
No, Trump has a major personality disorder, which by this time in his life is hard-wired into the physical structure of his brain ...
He is incapable of stopping being a malignant narcissist ...
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..."
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
You assume they're two different groups of people.
Pearlstein's thesis as I understand it so far is that the isolationist Republicans - the Taft folks - and the Dixiecrats got together in a marriage of political convenience. That says to me that the isolationist Republicans were prepared to countenance the situation in the South defended by the Dixiecrats. Doesn't that make them aiders and abettors of the Dixiecrats, at the very least? Goldwater courted both.
As I type this, I am remembering Kamala Harris' attack on Joe Biden over bussing. Can someone please help me rescue Biden while retaining my criticism of Goldwater.
As I type this, I am remembering Kamala Harris' attack on Joe Biden over bussing. Can someone please help me rescue Biden while retaining my criticism of Goldwater.
If you support bussing, there is likely no defense of Biden's previous stance, back in his troglodyte days.
Which doesn't mean you shouldn't support him today, now that he's changed his position. If you refused to vote for any politician because you don't like a viewpoint they had advocated decades earlier, that would likely limit your options considerably.
(And yes, this would also have applied to Goldwater, had he moved as far to the left as Biden has, and especially if he was running against the absolute worst president since I-don't-know-when.)
Comments
The ground troops on the right have been ignoring their actual economic well being for 40 years, as they keep voting for people who make it worse.
Yes, it's not about economics. See Hitler.
It's the fault of:
The Deep State; the Clintons; Mexicans; "Liberals" ...
I wish I could share your optimism
"Trump Begrudgingly Signs COVID-19 Relief Bill, Government Spending, Averting Shutdown:
After criticizing the government funding and emergency coronavirus relief as wasteful and inadequate, the president ended up signing it."
Sounds good...but is another shoe waiting to drop?
:votive:
not signing. Guy simply cannot bear being out of limelight. God help us Jan. 21 on. Biden and Harris may come to regret running.
Oh wait: TV news just claim he's signed.
What a toddler-hearted asshole.
:votive:
Just for context, are you talking about the Nashville bombing? And if so, would you happen to know what sort of information is being pursued?
Well yeah, but from what I've been able to glean, the case is basically solved, with law-enforcement saying they are no longer looking for other suspects.
They have the identity of the bomber and his remains ...
His motive apparently wasn't political, but personal ...
Several questions remain. For one, were there any other co conspirators--that is a very important question.
Two, reports say he had cancer, but I do not think that it is confirmed.
Three: Did he choose AT&T because of their conversion to 5G technology?
Technically, the investigation will be finished only when a coroner's report comes available.
He is not going to wait until the morning of 21 January to raise trouble. He is already planning a parallel inauguration at Mar-a-lago on 20 Jan.
Except ... The power balance in the Senate (not yet settled) will decide the degree to which the Biden Administration will be allowed to take over ...
And Four: Why did he choose Downtown as his send-off number?
I feel kinda bad for Petula Clark, since that song always struck me as having some genuine emotional basis to it. I wonder why Warner couldn't have picked some schlocky piece of sentimental dross for his big shebang. I won't mention any selections, but I'm thinking of the kinda stuff that was lighting up our lives in the 1970s.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking it might have been used to a similar purpose in a movie, but that may be wrong.
If you check the YouTube comments for the song, in addition to the innumerable "Nashville 2020!" posts, you can find people endlessly repeating the names of movies and TV shows it's been used in.
Off the top, I'm remembering people saying Girl Interrupted(which I've seen but only remember Why Does The Sun Keep On Shining), Seinfeld, and The Simpsons. There might have been some others, but I don't recall anyone mentioning a bombing scene.
Until the Biden administration takes over Republicans will control the Senate, even if Democrats win both seats in Georgia. Democratic control is contingent on winning both of Georgia's seats in the U.S. Senate and Kamala Harris (part of the Biden administration) being the tie-breaking vote.
Let's think about that for a minute.
Seems like something that would appeal to a disgruntled and alienated man.
Except that blowing yourself up indicates that you've given up on the hope that is symbolized by downtown in the song.
Unless he was putting an ironic twist on the lyrics. "Yeah, I'll cheer myself up. By going downtown. And obliterating myself."
My guess is he just liked the song, lyrically, musically, whatever, and wanted it to be the last thing he heard this side of kingdom come.
And I don't think anyone has noted that, in a city very closely associated with a particular style of music, he chose a song not generally identified with that genre.
I don't remember the English lyrics, but only the German ...
"Downtown ... Da wirst du Dinge erleben, die sind wunderbar ..."
Sarcasm ... ???
The song played when the girl hangs herself is Why Does The Sun Keep On Shining. Or at least, that's what's playing when the other girls find her.
I think you are spot on about "Trumpism" not ending with the Trump Presidency.
I have read the first few chapters of Before The Storm, the Ron Pearlstein book on the history of the Republican Party starting on or about VJ Day. Thankyou to Croesus and others for the recommendation. He is very readable, and his bias is clear (always handy in an historian).
The alliance brewing in the 50's between the isolationist Republicans (named for Robert Taft) and the Southern Democrats is pretty much Trump's politics. I am tempted to say that Trump is in the mold of Goldwater, and that's true concerning their backgrounds, but I don't yet know whether Goldwater was a hollow man, an authoritarian and a fool like Trump.
The point is that as Croesus and others have repeated ad nauseum, Trump is only unique in his incompetence. In policy and practice, he is rooted in American tradition, an unholy combination of isolationism, racism and electoral fraud, not from the darkness of the American soul, but from its political heartland. I think I am finally beginning to understand my American host-family's politics.
Edit: For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying that this is the only American tradition.
Also for the avoidance of doubt, Australian tradition is just as ugly, and for very similar reasons.
I must have got the songs mixed up. Angelina Jolie's character is pretty disturbing and cruel in the movie which is probably why I no longer find Down Town to be a happy song.
Yes ... As we age we tend to become more so what we were when we were younger ...
Goldwater was essentially a Libertarian ... He also had an internalized moral compass ...
As for what a libertarian with an internalized moral compass looked like in 1964 American conservatism, Goldwater's signature issue during his presidential campaign was opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
It should be noted that most of the people deeply involved in opposing the Civil Rights Movement also couched their opposition to black equality in "libertarian" terms. It's entirely uncoincidental that the only states Goldwater carried in 1964 were his home state of Arizona, Georgia, and the four states carried by Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948.
I can believe that there were sincere libertatians who were opposed to integration being forced upon private businesses as a matter of principle, free of any racial animosity. (Basically, to rework the old anti-censorship slogan: I disagree with how you run your lunch counter, but I'll defend to the death your right to run it that way.)
However, before I defend a politician playing the private-property card on integregation, I'd also need to see evidence that he was a consistent defender of private-property on other issues, like say for example, the right to use your body for homosexual relations, or the right to burn an American flag. And I'm pretty sure Barry Goldwater in 1964, who was playing footsie with the John Birch Society, was not that kind of conservative.
Libertarianism has long meant liberty for the better-off and lack of liberty for the worse-off. It is the worship of the status quo.
Well, it depends how you define "liberty". Under the most narrow definition(ie. the one used by libertarians), in the absence of a welfare-state, trade unions etc, the rich man and the poor man can still both have the same amount of liberty, in the sense of freedom from STATE control.
However, under those circumstances, the poor man is going to have far fewer options as to how he exercices his liberty than does the rich man. To quote someone else's argument, "There is not much point in saying that everyone has the right to read what they want, if large numbers of people can't afford to buy books and there are no libraries".
And yes, that does qualify as worshiping, and in fact exacerbating, the status quo.
The "Libertarians" were/are essentially anti-Federals ... "Just let ME and MINE do whatever we want ..." .. Goldwater was NOT a malignant narcissist, a psychopath, however ...
That's not so much anti-Federal as shopping for a jurisdictional level that "let(s) ME and MINE do whatever we want". Whichever level of jurisdiction will give you the answer you want to hear is the "right" one for whatever the problem is. If the federal government wants to racially integrate restrooms at any bus stop that handles inter-state traffic, then the state is the right level of government to address that question. If the federal government wants to build a bunch of interstate highways to aid inter-state traffic then by God and white Jesus that's the right level of government to handle infrastructure projects like that.
These days many of the Libertarians -- often associated with gun-nut militia folks -- recognize the county as their preferred jurisdictional authority, with the popularly elected County Sheriff as the Guy in Charge ...
Only because the militias think they can beat a posse of county deputies.
Not sure if this got posted yet, but the New York Post which has long supported Trump and is his favorite go-to paper published an editorial yesterday saying it is time for Trump to Stop the Insanity I do not agree with many of its points, but I wonder if Trump can stop his insanity.
You assume they're two different groups of people.
Around here, that is true.
No, Trump has a major personality disorder, which by this time in his life is hard-wired into the physical structure of his brain ...
He is incapable of stopping being a malignant narcissist ...
bingo
As I type this, I am remembering Kamala Harris' attack on Joe Biden over bussing. Can someone please help me rescue Biden while retaining my criticism of Goldwater.
If you support bussing, there is likely no defense of Biden's previous stance, back in his troglodyte days.
Which doesn't mean you shouldn't support him today, now that he's changed his position. If you refused to vote for any politician because you don't like a viewpoint they had advocated decades earlier, that would likely limit your options considerably.
(And yes, this would also have applied to Goldwater, had he moved as far to the left as Biden has, and especially if he was running against the absolute worst president since I-don't-know-when.)