If You Want To Find Freedom in Trump's America, Read This Book! (Reason Podcast)

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If You Want To Find Freedom in Trump's America, Read This Book! (Reason Podcast)

 

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"You probably have a sense—vague as it may be—that the weirdness of American life, and the intractability of its predicaments, large and small, are intimately, inexorably bound up with the craziness of everyday life. It's entirely possible that the motto on our coinage, IN GOD WE TRUST, still captures the most popular response to that. But, increasingly, a more useful motto for us might be 'DEAL WITH IT.'"

A lot of people are unhappy these days, writes James Poulos in his brilliant new book, The Art of Being Free: How Alexis de Tocqueville Can Save Us from Ourselves. The hardest cases among us are invested deeply in politics, especially partisan politics. You probably know some longtime Hillary Clinton fans or Democrats who are still struggling to get out of bed since November (maybe you're reading this from bed). But hell, even Republican Trump boosters can't go five minutes without complaining how the world is going to hell for this or that reason. Trump's whole appeal was that he was going to sand the rust off America and make it (and us!) great again.

When you throw in folks who are terrified that global warming is about to swamp the Midwest along with good old-fashioned religious end-timers, just about everybody is convinced these are the last days of modern Rome. Against such a background, Poulos' The Art of Being Free isn't just a pleasant diversion from the dog-eat-dog world of 24/7 news and partisan bickering. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet for the mind, groaning with allusions to history, political science, economics, literature, and pop culture: Socrates, Nietzche, Netflix, The Smashing Pumpkins, Seinfeld, Stendahl, and Scooby-Doo all make appearances in this essay about getting beyond superficial politics to the parts of life that really matter. And along the way, he charts a path that just might lead back to politics that will help us all be free to become whomever we think we want to be.

A late-thirtysomething writer for The Week, National Interest, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere, Poulos talks with Nick Gillespie about how Americans have historically tied ourselves in knots because "we love equality, we want unity, we fear uniformity." Using Tocqueville's Democracy in America as his lantern, he wanders far and wide through today's noisy landscape and brilliantly dispels "the sense of haunted despair" that so many of us wear like our favorite hoodie.

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Comments

[chemjeff]

We’re doomed.

[C. Anacreon]

Say what you will about him, I listened to the press conference on the radio today and laughed out loud at things Trump said several times — and for once I wasn’t laughing AT the President, I was laughing at things he said/did that were genuinely hilarious. When the CNN reporter was loudly demanding “Mr. President-Elect, if you’re going to criticize us (CNN), you are obligated to let us ask you a question” and Trump said to him, “Be quiet, you’re being rude,” and finally “I don’t have to answer you, you’re fake news.” Not only was it laugh-out-loud funny, but CNN totally deserved it.

When’s the last time you enjoyed listening to a Presidential press conference?

[GILMORE?]

Seriously.

What would you prefer?

A president who rambles inconclusively for 20 minutes, waffling about his deep, nuanced thoughts about how Climate Change is clearly increasing precipitation rates (as he urinates on your back)…

….Or one that goes, “blow me, CNN. Next question.”

[C. Anacreon]

Even MSNBC, of all networks, had enough restraint to ignore the pisswhore story, but CNN ran with it as if they were Woodward and Bernstein after meeting with Deep Throat.

Good for Trump for telling them off. And I’m betting he’ll continue that way until CNN relents and apologizes.

Until then, they can still be at the press conference, but only in the back row, with no camera allowed, just audio recording, sitting next to the stringer from Women’s Wear Daily.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Hey, don’t degrade Women’s Wear Daily like that, they have faithfully discussed things women wear, every day for years. They have the integrity to stand by their brand.

[Hamster of Doom]

CNN ran with it as if they were Woodward and Bernstein

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

So close.

[some guy]

If I were Trump I would seriously consider inviting some straight up tabloid like the National Enquirer to press conferences just so I could let them ask a question in place of the CNN reporter.

[Suell]

Best presidential press conference ever. I listened to it driving around with Armstrong and Getty who were on KGO playing it and stopping it now and then so they could laugh and make some comments on what he was saying. Of course the trade stuff was total bullshit, but I loved his treatment of the reporters.

[esteve7]

Nice to meet another bay area reaonoid

[Suell]

There are a few of us here in progressatopia. Cheers. *tips Sierra Nevada bottle*

[C. Anacreon]

Yes — I listened via Armstrong and Getty as well. Hearing them crack up over and over made it all the more hilarious.

[Suell]

I dig those two. They have some very funny stuff. Especially nice to hear some libertarianish voices in Bay Area radio (even if they are out a Sacramenna).

[Francisco d'Anconia]

The media is getting its just rewards. They are being seen for the joke they’ve become and their power is slipping away. And all it really took was an unintimidated public figure to tell them to go fuck themselves.

Credit where due.

If someone wanted to make some money, I think the time is right f(nearly right) or a new, respectable media outlet that deals in legitimate news and leaves the commentary out of it. There may actually be (or soon will be) a market for it.

[GILMORE?]

Their outrage and castigation is only effective when people *care* what they write.

his supporters don’t give a flying fuck what CNN says. even if he pandered to them, they’d skewer him. so why bother pretending like they matter? it also shows the others what its been like to be in Fox’s shoes for the last 8 years. I doubt they’ll be any more ‘nuanced’ in the future, but at least they might realize that they don’t dictate the rules of the game anymore.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

It will be interesting to see if others follow Trump’s lead on this. Can other pols pull it off or is it a Trump-only phenomenon?

It appears the only time the media wields any real power is if their target actually gives a shit.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

As you said.

[DenverJ]

A late-thirtysomething writer…

You know who else wrote a book in his late thirties?

[Ted S.]

Stephen King?

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Smurf-shamer!

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Jesus, Reason, can your mobile page load in one go instead of seventeen pieces that keep moving interface around?

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Should have left it alone without the explanation. There is just no way in hell anyone could have figured that one out.

[Hamster of Doom]

Terry Pratchett?

[Libertarian]

Dan Blocker? Was that the secret he kept from the world while filming Bonanza?

[C. Anacreon]

Elvis Costello?

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

I’ve always said: Red and blue penises are the keys to freedom.

[Hamster of Doom]

I’m sure it’s not supposed to be blue, no matter how free you are.

[Mantis Toboggan, Jr.]

Way to other my kink, Hamster.

[Hamster of Doom]

I’m just deeply invested in the health of the commentariat’s genitalia, Mantis. That’s all.

[Pan Zagloba "The Stickler"]

Smurf-shamer!

(Correct thread this time)

[Chipper Morning Wood]

I’ve never felt more free than as a Blue Man Group understudy.

[Hamster of Doom]

I’m not googling that.

[thrakkorzog]

He just blue himself.

[Hamster of Doom]

You fucking fuck. Now I have to listen to the song. You fucking fuck.

[thrakkorzog]

What song? I thought CMD was making an Arrested Development reference.

[Hamster of Doom]

Well, now I’ve already listened to it and am lost in Youtube recommendations so you have to wait until my British technorock song is done.

There. This one.

[thrakkorzog]

That’s what I was afraid of. Man we listened to a lot of crap back in the 90’s.

I was referring to this.

[Hamster of Doom]

Man we listened to a lot of crap back in the 90’s.

We did. What the fuck was wrong with us?

And then, we had this and this and this. So it wasn’t all bad.

[Ted S.]

The 90s also produced this.

[Crusty Juggler]

From the press conference transcript:

You can do anywhere ? you’ve got a lot of states at play; a lot of competition. So it’s not like, oh, gee, I’m taking the competition away. You’ve got a lot of places you can move. And I don’t care, as along as it’s within the United States, the borders of the United States.

It doesn’t get more free than that.

[esteve7]

I don’t see what the progs are so upset about. Much of this crap is the same thing spewed by Clinton, Bernie, and Warren

[Sevo]

“I don’t see what the progs are so upset about.”

He’s stealing their lines.

[Pompey: Ho Class Mothersmucker]

From The Way of the Gun : it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

[Not a True MJG]

So much freedom it’s sickening.

[John Titor]

So, uh, if Trump decides to kill NAFTA, feel free to annex us, because it ain’t gonna be pretty otherwise.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Saw your explanation about why support the Liberals and the poor state of the other ones.

Well put. Personally, I don’t have any allegiance to any of them.

As for the ‘third party’ in the form of Pirate, Libertarian etc. Canada is in the dark ages compared to our American cousins.

[John Titor]

My allegiance only goes as far as when our interests line up. When they put Zoolander in the leadership position I didn’t think even for a second about voting Liberal in the next election. Now I’m basically ignoring it until they fuck up again. Or maybe Wynne will die in the near future and vastly improve Ontario by her lack of existence while also making me care about provincial politics again.

[Hamster of Doom]

Let’s count our blessings. Even if Trump fucks up repealing Obamacare, his tweaks to it look about right to torch the entire budget.

First week in office will be very interesting.

[Sevo]

Over the last 16 years, we’ve gone from a merely incompetent POTUS to a truly nasty one and it was looking like ‘truly nasty’ was gonna be handed us once more.
I’m hoping we got a bit better than that.

[Hamster of Doom]

I dunno, Sevo. I’m as ready for the bullshit to be over as the next guy, but it’s looking like the best case scenario is Trump deregulates enough that sidelined capital blooms sufficiently to get us through the next few years and pay for the rest of the fiasco. It won’t be sustainable.

[John Titor]

Annexation is really the only good answer to the death of NAFTA for us, and I admit that a morbid part of me just wants to see:

1. Canadian progressives collectively throw a temper tantrum that will make the post-election one look like nothing, because it will also be tied into anti-American Canadian nationalism.
2. Zoolander marched through the streets of Washington behind a Orange-faced Trump like a Roman Triumph.

[__Warren__]

CanaDa? CaNyet!

[Hamster of Doom]

Is Canada really that tied in to NAFTA?

It’d be astonishing to see what our markets actually look like when everyone stops fucking with them. You know, just once before I’d die, I’d really like to see what humans can do with a good following wind and nothing in their way.

[Sevo]

http://gwulo.com/node/6190
Ya had to speak Mandarin.

[Hamster of Doom]

Very good read, Sevo! I’m always interested in the subject of Hong Kong as it relates to economics.

Cowperthaite was an Iron Chancellor. He insisted that the tax rate (personal and corporate) should not rise above 15% (yes, fifteen per cent), that the Government should never borrow under any circumstances, that there should be no tariffs at all and no subsidies whatsoever.

I think he’s being a bit extreme here. Can I think of instances where it would be smart and even economically correct for 1) governments to borrow or 2) lay tariffs? Yes. Yes, I can. I like neither of these things but they are tools, and there’s no such thing as a useless tool, just a misused one.

Of course, government debt may be like the death penalty for me – I can acknowledge that some people need killin’, while simultaneously questioning whether the government can be trusted with that sort of grown-up responsibility. So, that’s, like, me being as generous towards government approach to macroeconomics as possible. I may want the option on the table, that doesn’t mean I like it or think government is going to use it well if not cornered like a rat in a trap with no other option.

[Sevo]

“Very good read, Sevo!”
Than-que, and I’m partial to this quote:
“In the long run, the aggregate of decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is less likely to do harm than the centralised decisions of a government, and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster.”
Needs to be engraved on the inside of ever politico’s specs.

[Hamster of Doom]

I wanted to quote that, but the character limit spoiled my fun.

Such a truism. There is very little the government can accomplish collectively that could not have been done better, faster and cheaper by private industry. It has all the downsides of letting the government handle an issue, with none less of the built-in monopoly and corruption.

Frankly, I’m growing of the opinion that the government sphere rightly includes only that which needs to be done which will also not be done by private industry.

There’s not a lot that qualifies.

[Sevo]

“Frankly, I’m growing of the opinion that the government sphere rightly includes only that which needs to be done which will also not be done by private industry.”

As taxpayers, we tolerate the continual wastage and fuck-upS by the government in providing defense, roads, water storage facilities and the like, since we’ve yet to figure out a way to do it otherwise and KICK THE GODDAM GOVERNMENT OUT!

[BigT]

“there’s no such thing as a useless tool”

Um…did you sleep theough the past 8 years?

[Pompey: Ho Class Mothersmucker]

Mandarin Cantonese.

FTFY

[Rufus The Monocled]

To be honest, I don’t even know anymore. NAFTA is one of those things only people directly involved with it actually understand and is noting more than an ‘assumed’ success among people. One in which the government can easily use as a scare tactic should they ever need it; nice thing to have in the back pocket. IE ‘OMG Trump is gonna end NAFTA we’re all gonna die!”

But no one will explain in any great detail how it would impact us.

What I do *know* is NAFTA is now mostly in the realm of urban myth where our lexicon is concerned. E.G. ‘I got zinged at the border for bringing in two bottles of booze! NAFTA MY ASS!’

[Rufus The Monocled]

BUT Canada IS tied into the U.S. economy to the tune of 85% of our trade is with America and I reckon that’s what CETA was all about; to loosen that up a bit. One hundred years too late but hey. Canada signs all these deals without actually developing or diversifying its economy more. We’re still, for the most part, a ‘timber and resource’ economy. We send the lumber over to Europe and we buy back the finished products at probably a higher cost than we sold the material.

And I certainly don’t believe for one second this bunch in power is going to improve that.

It’s been my impression anyway.

[Sevo]

“And I certainly don’t believe for one second this bunch in power is going to improve that.”

Not to beat on you, but I don’t think they should have a lot to do with it.
But I’m curious as to why CND hasn’t developed native industry of some sort. You’re not lacking for capital, right? Healthy equities market and all that? No lack of real estate choking plant size. Plenty of energy. The SE portion isn’t lacking for transport for either raw materials or finished goods.
Is the tax structure such that only established firms need apply?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Actually, capital was always the issue.

Jane Jacobs wrote about this back in the 60s.

Canada has the oil but never felt the need to develop the machinery to extract and refine it choosing instead to rely on American capital. Our early industrial magnates – i.e. railroad – were American like Van Horne.

When it came down to developing indigenous products – heck, it was even in culture when Canadian magazines were never fully supported by our business class who simply back the U.S. publications – we never matured.

[Rufus The Monocled]

You would *think* the Canada-USA healthy rivalry would lead to us coming up with our own version of the Mustang but it never happened.

I look at how things happened in Europe and it fascinates me. Basically, France, England, Germany and Italy competed with one another from racing boats to yachts to speedy planes, air planes, cars, racing cars, trucks etc. An explosion of genius came out of that competition.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I’d like to add, and I’m sure better minds like JT and Pan can offer more into this, but the same mentality prevails with our military. Canada talks about exerting control and exercising rights in the Arctic all the while relying on a half dozen Inuit Rangers to run it as if they’re Sam fucken Steele for the ENTIRE ARCTIC. Never once did anyone say, ‘hey man, with all these countries sticking their noses in here like Russia and USA, we should maybe develop a navy or army to exert control?’

No presence invites disputes. And no better example of our impotence was when the Danes stuck a flag on an island up there – I forget which one – and we could do shit about it.

[Rufus The Monocled]

And another thing, Sevo, our very best tend to flow into the USA, while the USA’s very best don’t generally come up here.

That’s another aspect to all this.

Ok. I’m done. I think.

/pulls out yogourt.

[John Titor]

Never once did anyone say, ‘hey man, with all these countries sticking their noses in here like Russia and USA, we should maybe develop a navy or army to exert control?’

Correction, at least in the modern age, no civilian ever talks about this. Within the military hierarchy, however, there’s always been grumbles about this apparently ever since we pissed away the navy we developed in the Second World War. But Ottawa’s dynamic has been since the 1950s to be subservient to the United States on military matters, and effectively ‘just let them deal with it’. I bitch about this plenty here already, but the Canadian government’s view on the military is just absurd. We want to be some bizarre mix of a European welfare state with a small force, but also be able to engage in peacekeeping or NATO support at any time and any place, while also having a low budget, while also demanding the world take us super-seriously, because Vimy Ridge.

Ottawa expects the United States to defend their Arctic sovereignty out of the goodness of hearts (not to mention for old historical pragmatism like the DEW Line). Means that in theory the land is protected, but you can dick the Canadian government around as much as you want because they can’t do shit about it.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I was going to write we like to off load our responsibilities onto the Americans but expect them to do right by us.

You are correct about the civilian part. In my course on Arctic history it’s a subject restricted to the political, academic and military classes.

Civilians? ‘North of 60’ is the extent of it I reckon. Fucken Teevee always fucking things up.

[John Titor]

The other thing is that a lot of Ottawa has a fundamentally retarded view of how the military operates. They legitimately believe utter nationalist nonsense about the CAF being some wonderful pure peacekeeping force while the Americans are carpet bombing monsters. Some Ottawa politicians and the media got pissy when Hillier openly said the Canadian Forces’ job was to kill people, and I’ve heard some extremely stupid stories about visits from politicians and bureaucrats in Afghanistan.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Someone I know was in Kosovo during Canada’s peace mission there. He basically said it was all BS. Here’s how it worked. Serbians would fuck around with Canadians and not take them seriously. Canadians call in Americans for a hand. Americans show a sign of force – i.e. bombers fly over – Serbians back off.

Canada fuck yeah.

And this is not to demean our soldiers. By all accounts – even by Americans – they fight well and serve proudly and can be counted on. It’s, like you said, our mentality in the political class is functionally naive and retarded when it comes to war. I blame Pearson (?) because I don’t see evidence of this prior to him coming along.

[John Titor]

Discussion someone I knew claimed to have with a visiting female analyst (or someone diplomacy related? Can’t remember) about highways and travel in Afghanistan:

Analyst: I’d like to see Kabul.
Officer: Can’t happen until the next convoy is ready.
Analyst: Can’t we just take the highway?
Officer (extremely confused): The…the highway between Kandahar and Kabul is Highway One, the most dangerous stretch of road in the country. Roadside bombs and Taliban attacks are the norm, foreign kidnappings common.
Analyst: Oh. So the convoy will make us safe, right?
Officer: No, not safe. Less likely to get attacked by the Taliban, but roadside bombs don’t care.
Analyst: Is there any other way to get to Kabul?
Officer: Fly to Dubai, book a flight to Hamid Karzai (Kabul’s airport).

[Rufus The Monocled]

I have a buddy who visited there as an analyst. Sure hope it wasn’t him. Can’t be him. He’s too shrewd.

By the way, we can still further stretch this mentality into our amateur sports program which until recently was weak.

[Sevo]

“Actually, capital was always the issue.”

Gotta ask about CDN retirement arrangements.
In the US, anyone who hopes to retire without an Alpo diet has some sort of equities portfolio. As mentioned above, it’s commonly a fund, managed by a pro to do so.
Regardless, we are all (most of us) ‘stockholders’, even the dim-bulbs ranting about ‘evil korporations!!!!!’
Not so in CDN?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Pretty much the same as I understand it.

RRSP = 401k.

There may be differences in taxes (even then I think it’s essentially similar) and all that. We pretty much have OAS (SS in the USA) and other pensions (i.e. provincial) to “complement” whatever retirement savings ( investment portfolios or company) Canadians may have.

Net savings in North America isn’t very high to begin with.

[John Titor]

Depends. If it’s just renegotiating parts of NAFTA, probably fine/good, not great. If it’s full on protectionist with border taxes and what not, as Rufus points out, the majority of our trade is with the United States, and we’re effectively a branch plant.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Branch plant. Exactly.

And WE CHOSE that bed.

Granted, very hard to compete with the USA – our luck we happened to be neighbours with the greatest power in history – so long story short they get our comedians.

[thrakkorzog]

I guess I’m just kind of curious to what happened to the entrepreneurial spirit? You guys have as much of a brave pioneering history as the US.

Why doesn’t some enterprising Canadian look at lumber waiting to be shipped off, and say fuck it, and start up the Canadian version of Ikea? Things like rockets and race cars require highly specialized skills that are subject to brain drain.

I’m fairly certain that even Red Green could design a low end priced book case that could be put together with some cheap wood, some screws, and a Hex wrench.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Not sure why. Once upon a time, Canada was indeed a more ‘individualistic’ and dating country. There’s talent but it feels as though we can’t convert it efficiently enough.

Re race cars. Yes, but in the early era of racing (parts of the 10s, 20s, 30s and parts of the 40s) the great auto nations all had engineers and designers from their respective countries that launched them. It wasn’t until later (I’d like to say the 50s) did they start to poach each other.

Off to listen to The Feelies and Young Marble Giants and then bed.

[Hamster of Doom]

Not sure why. Once upon a time, Canada was indeed a more ‘individualistic’ and dating country. There’s talent but it feels as though we can’t convert it efficiently enough.

Stability breeds fragility.

[Rufus The Monocled]

daring.

But yeh.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Except Vercingetorix was actually a great leader and warrior Caesar respected.

Zoolander is no V’getorix.

[John Titor]

Trump is no Caesar either, and that’s a good thing.

[ant1sthenes]

He is a bit caesaresque in some respects. More his situation and the state of the Republic than his personal demeanor.

[DenverJ]

Even if Trump fucks up repealing Obamacare, his tweaks to it look about right to torch the entire budget.

I read that as “twerks to it”: very strange mental image.

[Brochetta's magic (((pants)))]

Crusty’s ultimate wet dream.

Don’t say I never did anything for you, you filthy animal.

[GILMORE?]

recall that Obama was using the Treasury to punish companies for “inversion” as early as 2+ years ago

…when Obama began his crusade against inversions earlier this summer, Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew was adamant enough that rules changes must originate in Congress, he wrote a letter to Congress and he penned an Op-Ed about it in for the Washington Post, both in July. From the Op-Ed:

“” I call on Congress to close this loophole and pass anti-inversion legislation as soon as possible. Our tax system should not reward U.S. companies for giving up their U.S. citizenship, and unless we tackle this problem, these transactions will continue. Closing the inversion loophole is no substitute for comprehensive business tax reform, but it is a necessary step down the path toward a fair and more efficient tax system, and a step that needs to be in a place for tax reform to work.””

Now suddenly it seems Jack Lew has inverted own his position and announced new rules originating from the Treasury Department, not Congress ? and did so as soon as Congress left town for a break

None of this shit is new with him either.

what both obama and trump are doing is called “Jawboning“

[BigT]

+1 LBJ

[Rufus The Monocled]

Shapiro unleashes on ‘criminal’ Obama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGx3K1DnJs4

[AlmightyJB]

Trump’s America

[GILMORE?]

a hilarious sequence in the comments =

[STORY ABOUT ANIMAL FARTS]

COMMENTS =

Plato Shrimp
10:55 AM EST
I am so sick and tired of ANY responses having to do with politics on stories not remotely connected to the topic.
Constantly being bombarded with such unoriginal, jejune, vapid, inane, puerile and banal tripe is revolting.
PLEASE try to curb such impulses, even though many of us are products of a substandard educational system and have the worldview of planaria.

MarylandTracker
8:36 AM EST
And they’re going to appoint Donald J. Trump as overseer of all information collected!

Fredrico Alverez
10:21 AM EST
Right after she wipes off her chin! LOL!

[Hamster of Doom]

Constantly being bombarded with such unoriginal, jejune, vapid, inane, puerile and banal tripe is revolting.
PLEASE try to curb such impulses, even though many of us are products of a substandard educational system and have the worldview of planaria.

Thesaurus privilege – revoked.

[C. Anacreon]

I do appreciate the cross referencing of Greek philosophy and the movie Repo Man that led to the commenter’s handle “Plato Shrimp”, though.

[Sevo]

“I am so sick and tired of ANY responses having to do with politics on stories not remotely connected to the topic.”

Would that it were so:
“Jerry Brown Farts in General Direction of Dairy Farmers”
[…]
“Well, Brown is at it again. This time, he’s passing legislation targeting dairy cows for the horrific crime of releasing methane when they pass gas, belch or defecate.”
http://townhall.com/columnists…..s-n2255001

[AlmightyJB]

Fake News Tips

[EdWuncler]

OT: http://www.nationalreview.com/…..-rand-paul

“Kentucky senator Rand Paul may have come up with a proposal that could offer a way out of the political corner Republicans have been painting themselves into. From the start, Paul has argued against proposals to set a sunset date for Obamacare today and come up with a replacement later. Paul wants to repeal Obamacare root and branch, of course, but he also wants Republicans to offer a replacement plan on day one. Democrats may block it, but then the political fallout will be on them.”

[The Fusionist]

Politically speaking, if they can’t muster the will to kill it now, when will they?

Unless the Republicans are under extreme political pressure to come up with an alternative, they won’t.

If major provisions in the law are scheduled to expire, the Republicans will experience that kind of pressure, otherwise they’ll just keep sending out press releases about how bad Obamacare is.

[DenverJ]

Yeah, if the elephants don’t kill it in the first few months, it’ll never be killed, and every criticism of the party elite by the base will be proven correct.
Next: Trump offers amnesty to illegal immigrants.

[Suell]

Did anyone read Greenwald’s piece in the Intercept today? I thought it was pretty spot on.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Reading it now. Greenwald hit a homerun.

[Hamster of Doom]

He’s been making a habit of that. Becoming quite a favorite of mine, and I’ve never been that into the Intercept before this.

[Chipper Morning Wood]

Zach Beauchamp is my new favorite moron.

[Sevo]

“Did anyone read Greenwald’s piece in the Intercept today?”
Ya know, links are just linky!

[Sevo]

Looked high and low; cannot find.

[Sevo]

Think I found it.
“Times and Nicholas Lemann Edition”?

[Rich]

Hier.

But you have to answer Glenn’s question:

When it comes time to expose actual Trump corruption and criminality, who is going to believe the people and institutions who have demonstrated they are willing to endorse any assertions no matter how factually baseless, who deploy any journalistic tactic no matter how unreliable and removed from basic means of ensuring accuracy?

[Sevo]

Gracias.
He’s like the obverse of Robbie; really good logic, well presented and then:
“There are solutions to Trump. They involve reasoned strategizing and patient focus on issues people actually care about.”
Solutions to what?
I didn’t vote for him and make no assumptions he’s a libertarian POTUS, but if I’m looking for solutions, I need to find the problem first.

[Hamster of Doom]

That’s kind of ever the issue.

We’re the problem. This is why it’s complicated. Humans: we’re the fucking problem.

[Suell]

Sorry for the no linky. Reason wouldn’t take the url and that hyperlink thingy is still difficult for me. I end up mushing the code. Are there any good tricks to quickly hyperlink? I know some of you are actually computer literate.

[Sevo]

Suell|1.12.17 @ 12:09AM|#
Sorry for the no linky. Reason wouldn’t take the url and that hyperlink thingy is still difficult for me.”

No prob; me too.
I’ve learned the technique four or five times and then forgotten it since it’s not a common usage. I post half the link and then say ‘start from there’.

[Sevo]

Oh, and fye on Reason for requiring that!

[Suell]

I’m surprised that it is not just easily able to be done via the browser. I mostly use safari and chrome and asaik neither has a quick shortcut, you have to type in the code. What is up with that? Maybe I am missing something, but I did look around a few times for shortcuts and came up empty.

And yes, Fuck reason for that. It was a valid web address.

[Sevo]

“And yes, Fuck reason for that. It was a valid web address.”

Reason runs the web site as if Nick’s nephew has just found the job he needs.
My contribution has been reduced by serious amounts over the past couple of years; the amateurish web management, along with the quality of the writing tells me they are not serious.
So I’m not serious in supporting them either; I encourage others to follow suit.
Matt, clean up your act! And that doesn’t mean a new tie for you TV appearances.

[thrakkorzog]

http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_a.asp

It’s a basic guide, although sometimes squirrels will eat your link.

[Sevo]

Learned and forgotten it many times; FYE on Reason for requiring it.

[Suell]

Do you actually type out Visit W3Schools.com! each time you want a link or does anyone have a shortcut? I should just memorize it, but some part of my mind says fuckit.

[Suell]

I meant href

[thrakkorzog]

I usually just type in the Href tags, then copy and paste the links. That is like the bare minimum for computer literacy. If you can’t figure that out, and make fun of the people who can post links then we need to keep you away from the cake.

[thrakkorzog]

Jeez, we’re getting worse than Playboy for people reading for the articles.

[SIV]

I guess everybody has already seen this>

Metro ATL gunshop owner thwarts robbery.

[Hamster of Doom]

We did.

You know, since like nine of us voted Trump, we’re going to hold you responsible. You know this, dude, right.

[Hamster of Doom]

I know no one seems to know this, but if you’re on Twitter, there’s a bonus buffer that gives one extra posting time.

Not that I’m saying that Twitter Reasonites have an advantage. Just that articles go live on Twitter before the rest of the site, and now that y’all know this, you can act accordingly.

[thrakkorzog]

I don’t think any of us posting this late are trying to beat First for first post on the AM links.

[thrakkorzog]

Umm Fist, you know what I mean. Stupid autocorreect.

[Sevo]

Pretty sure the secret’s out for those who think it’s worth it.

[Hamster of Doom]

And yet the only people currently telling Chapman what an idiot he is are Pat(PM) and myself.

The secret is still too big.

[(((Renegade)))]

Even the truth gets old.

[Suell]

I just found out that my close friend’s parents are finally able to sell their bar. They are in their mid 70’s and quite ready to call it quits after after forty plus years of bar ownership. They hadn’t sold because they had a long running court case with the ABC (state of California alcohol control) which they finally won. Tough Irish bastard would not give it up. Years ago they had the local police dept cruise in (as usual) and start asking for ids. One 20 year old girl claimed she didn’t have one. She wasn’t drinking anything but was in the premises. The doorman said she showed him a valid license and had probably hidden it. There were no female cops available to search her so she was given a ticket and none was ever issued to the bar. A couple years pass and the Irish couple get a fine from the ABC for ten grand and a notice of probation. One more and they are closed for 30, two more and it’s permanent. The old Irishman fights it and after four years he finally wins it, The state tried to settle twice in the last weeks and he said no, I want a trial. He is a legend.

[Sevo]

Which bar?

[Suell]

From a couple years back. Couldn’t find the latest.

http://www.abcappealsbd.ca.gov…..a.dec_.pdf

[Suell]

You can imagine the grief that he was getting from them these last years. He saw the goons weekly. I’ve known the family since childhood, upstanding people all the way.

[Cdr Lytton]

On August 14, 2013, the Department filed an accusation against appellant charging that, on January 26, 2013, appellant permitted Amanda Harper, someone who was then only twenty years old, to enter and remain in appellant’s bar without lawful business

Geezus…

[Sevo]

OK, the rain’s coming in, I’m about to bail, but I wanted to share with all of you the editorial acumen of the local rag; what is it that is really important and needs to go front-and-center on page one?

“How photographer captured shot of woman kayaking inside home”
http://www.sfgate.com/

I haven’t read it yet; the frisson is just too exciting to bear!
Oh, well, it turns out he used a camera. Amazing!

[Libertarian]

He hasn’t even taken the oath of office yet, and Trump has already managed to end the California drought caused by global warming. I’m already sick of winning!*

*no, I did not vote for DJT

[Annie Taylor]

I do love Tramp’s attitude towards obtaining medical marijuana in California!

[GroundTruth]

“DEAL WITH IT” is far closer to “e pluribus unum” than “In God We Trust”, and far, far closer to the original concept of limited government.

OK, let the attacks begin.

[AbbiB]

Quoi de neuf, jolie page Web que vous avez en ce moment l?.
Cialis pour les hommes