Musk will likely become the greatest civilian enabler of dictatorship in modern American history. He will make Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford look like pikers in that regard.
Though he voted for Biden to get rid of Trump, for various ego- and online-brain-pill-related reasons, he's gradually curdled on the return of sane, boring normalcy to American life and has come to think of normal, center-left/center-right Western democracy as the greatest "tyranny" in the world. He certainly thinks of it as a greater threat to his business ambitions than actual, genuine tyrants.
If getting rid of Biden means reversing course and backing Trump's return to the White House, he'll use his media power to do just that without hesitation. For those who see his Erdogan and Modi support for what it is, watch out; he's just getting started. :/
About the “boys” podcast: I had to turn off. One reason for the jobs/college disparity might be that woman are working harder and showing up more because they can no longer rely on men to support the household, help pay for their kids. Women want more control over their lives, something men have gotten used to.
And now with the new abortion rules, women, alone, are ultimately responsible for what happens when men have sex with them. A woman would be crazy not to work her ass off in school because who can she rely on to help?
Men commit suicide more often than women due to greater access and more comfort with guns. Period. Guns are the number one cause of death by suicide and guns are probably the most impulsive.
Men’s heavy mfg jobs have been replaced by robots not women.
Mom’s baby their golden boys while their girls are taught early to serve, help out.
Is there a female version of misogyny? Are women raping and stalking men? I guess we’re lucky we got the vote, guys. Damn straight we’re gonna work our butts off.
Boys just gotta get used to some real competition.
I will not listen to your show for awhile, dear Charlie. This one sounded too much like the old outrage radio and that’s not why I listen to you. Please don’t go in that direction!
I listened to the whole thing and was appalled by a lot of what Reeves presents as fact. Such as the superiority of male workers who have families. Or the complete dismissal of toxic masculinity by modern feminists. I haven’t read his book, but I’m guessing that the data supporting these points is anecdotal.
Many men have been socialized to prioritize their own needs and wants over those of others, opportunities for women have improved (until recently), and men don’t have the same unquestioned economic and social leverage enjoyed by previous generations. But they still have more of it than women do.
It’s analogous to fear around white replacement theory and reminds me of a guy working a dead end job, bemoaning having squandered his white, male privilege.
There are many examples of excellent men around us, including Biden, who demonstrate love, kindness, empathy, determination, a desire to contribute. Here’s an idea; Step up, pitch in, give back. Quit moaning about the loss of your damn throne.
Maybe we should get the next guy on The Bulwark to tell us about Reverse Racism. (Notice that no woman was *ever* concerned about that thankfully short-lived meme.)
Btw I’m obviously a proponent of free speech and covet difficult topics. But this one was so far afield on so many levels that I didn’t want it taking another 15 minutes in my brain. Like a worm!
I really did pause my donation as penance. I still love you Charlie. Your questions were admirable and delicately phrased. But still.
Because the media is fixating on it, so that's what people are hearing and it's triggering them. Especially CNN, harps on it all the time. But no mention of TFG's unhinged mind at all, uh ugh
They said Sir: Shall we clean up the voter rolls Sir? Why yes Sir, we did that in spades Sir, with your lax covid response Sir. The gift that keeps on giving Sir. Thank you Sir!
"Comer went on to say that “nine of the ten people that we’ve identified that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they’re one of three things. They’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing.”"
-----
Mr Comer is, once again, showing his MAGA chops - learned from the master, the Tangerine Tyrant. After showing time and time again that he and his Star Chamber committee have nothing (including a knowledge of where their star witness is) he has resorted to smear and innuendo:
"They’re either currently in court" said with an undertone of "The Biden Regime" sicced the DOJ on his witnesses who have done nothing wrong other than to be willing to testify as to the rampant corruption of the current administration. In return for doing their patriotic duty of keeping the politicians honest they are threatened with jail time.
"[T]hey’re currently in jail" probably convicted by a Democrat Socialist judge, appointed by Obama - the illegitimate POTUS, who is more interested in protecting their own than in seeing justice served. The American court system has been corrupted by the nefarious Democrat Party (and it is up to MAGA folk to be sure these partisan judges are replaced with honest conservative people).
"[T]hey’re currently missing" with the idea being either they are in hiding due to fear of potential bodily harm or are already dead and buried. Either way these brave people are being physically intimidated, or killed, at the behest of the Biden Crime Cartel.
All three of these concepts seem to be nothing more than obfuscation of the facts that Comer's committee has come up empty handed. The Republican House majority has been showing little to no interest in legislating for the good of the country so much as they have proven their ability to perform political theater. Their mantra appears to be "investigate, not legislate."
Marjorie is also whining about missing "whistleblowers", echoing Comer. There was actual proven corruption and whistleblowing during Trump's "presidency" and even now. Crickets from Comer, and every other R. I notice that McCarthy is keeping a very low profile, also McConnell.
I must not be taking these investigations seriously. I thought that he was talking about a set of people who were in jail, in court or missing due to their own malfeasances and poor behavior, rather than the deep state or Biden thugs menacing them. I must have lost track of this conspiracy theory.
I don't take the political theater of Mr Comer and the rest very seriously either. My point was that we are being offered a plate full of innuendo, not anything substantial. The MAGA crowd has a tendency to obfuscate and bloviate while thinking a majority of the people will eat their bovine scat, no questions asked.
Listened with interest to your podcast with Richard Reeves. I would say he's onto something - the dystopian future seen by many males certainly does impact our political situation dramatically, and for the worse, and he has numbers to prove it.
However, I think his solutions are a bit questionable. Democrats should not fear to say that they are taking steps to create more jobs for working-class men. First, I question the premise. I think Joe Biden has been quite clear in saying that there will be union jobs created by some of the initiatives passed last year and signed by Biden. There is still enough stereotyping assorted with the "union jobs" phrase to ensure that the message that these jobs are not all going to women will get through, even if he has phrased it in a non-sexist way. Messaging is perhaps not as important a factor as you and Mr. Reeves think.
Here is something more important:
A fundamental point is being lost here, and it may be inherent in the Bulwark's self-defined mission, as indicated by the self-ad for the Bulwark in the podcast. There, and in everything you do, the mission is basically seen as uniting the center-right and center-left against the Trumper crazies.
Fair enough, but you don't pay as much attention as you should to the center-left part of that equation.
As currently implemented by the Biden administration, the center-left is a coalition between the center and the left of the Democratic Party. In that framework, Biden has followed a line far more favorable to blue-collar work than previous DP policies were, under Obama, and where Hillary Clinton wanted to take the country.
The center-left divide in the DP was most clearly exposed in the 2016 primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. What were the pejoratives hurled by both sides in that fight? With Bernie, it was "the billionaire class" that Clinton was supposedly in thrall to. With Hillary, it was these "Bernie Bros", those toxically male sexist (and probably racist) Bernie supporters who were supposedly stuck in a troglodyte past, not "woke" enough.
This would imply that allies in the push that Reeves wants to make might more readily be found in the still-existent Bernie wing of the party, particularly those, like Bernie himself, who have not gone off the deep end of left-wing anti-Bidenism. But that brand still is deemed toxic by the center-right mainstay of the Bulwark, because it's too anti-capitalist for their tastes.
The Bulwark's goal of appealing to the center-left need to realize that the center-left is a coalition of the center and the left, both elements of which have something to offer to Bulwark fans. Yes, this means "union jobs", for one thing.
Uh, they have pretty high hiring standards. On what basis do you assume that Musk would have made the cut? My understanding is that they guy isn't an engineer, but rather a wealthy person who decided to invest in some promising techs.
“to ALL, in particular the Mothers, Wives and Lovers of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, and Communists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great Country. Please make these complete Lunatics and Maniacs Kinder, Gentler, Softer and, most importantly, Smarter, so that we can, quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
And therein lies the rub:
Since this comment was posted on “Truth Social” instead of Twitter, it didn’t require the proper “translator” usually reserved for most of Musk’s comments on the site. Had Trump’s latest “unhinged,” mix word salad been posted on Twitter, it could easily have been decrypted and disseminated in seconds and released to the masses, in a way we all can understand.
As a former Trump whisperer myself, I’ll give it my best:
“Anyone who doesn’t worship me is a loser and should be hung, drawn and quartered. Our country was once great, but it’s been overtaken by deep state liberals; with their science, math, history, common sense and equality for all. Who needs that or wants that for the matter! Religion in school is all you need. Expel all the groomers.
Additionally, It’s time “real” Americans take back this nation from these criminal immigrants, with their drugs and diseases. We need to expel everyone who isn’t us! No more Jews, liberals and gays. Mikey Mouse; gone! Meatball Ron; gone, not because he’s a liberal, he’s just an ungrateful loser who could never make it without me. Oh, and by the way, Happy Mother’s Day; only to real American mother’s. Trans women and Pete Buttigieg need not apply!”...:)
My take away from today’s column: Trump is Putin’s bitch, Elon is Erdogan’s bitch (don’t forget Xi’s bitch), and Comer is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Great piece on Russia and I always love Tom’s work.
Every "norrmie" Republican should be asked what they think of Trump's participation, with family members, in events dominated by Qanon conspiracy theories and fundamentalist apocalypticism, complete with fantasies about firing squads.
Trumpite apologists who want to be seen as intellectually sophisticated need to be pressed on whether those events represent their vision for restoring constitutional governance and traditional values.
.
George Conway was thumbing through his thesaurus again
.
Musk will likely become the greatest civilian enabler of dictatorship in modern American history. He will make Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford look like pikers in that regard.
Though he voted for Biden to get rid of Trump, for various ego- and online-brain-pill-related reasons, he's gradually curdled on the return of sane, boring normalcy to American life and has come to think of normal, center-left/center-right Western democracy as the greatest "tyranny" in the world. He certainly thinks of it as a greater threat to his business ambitions than actual, genuine tyrants.
If getting rid of Biden means reversing course and backing Trump's return to the White House, he'll use his media power to do just that without hesitation. For those who see his Erdogan and Modi support for what it is, watch out; he's just getting started. :/
About the “boys” podcast: I had to turn off. One reason for the jobs/college disparity might be that woman are working harder and showing up more because they can no longer rely on men to support the household, help pay for their kids. Women want more control over their lives, something men have gotten used to.
And now with the new abortion rules, women, alone, are ultimately responsible for what happens when men have sex with them. A woman would be crazy not to work her ass off in school because who can she rely on to help?
Men commit suicide more often than women due to greater access and more comfort with guns. Period. Guns are the number one cause of death by suicide and guns are probably the most impulsive.
Men’s heavy mfg jobs have been replaced by robots not women.
Mom’s baby their golden boys while their girls are taught early to serve, help out.
Is there a female version of misogyny? Are women raping and stalking men? I guess we’re lucky we got the vote, guys. Damn straight we’re gonna work our butts off.
Boys just gotta get used to some real competition.
I will not listen to your show for awhile, dear Charlie. This one sounded too much like the old outrage radio and that’s not why I listen to you. Please don’t go in that direction!
I listened to the whole thing and was appalled by a lot of what Reeves presents as fact. Such as the superiority of male workers who have families. Or the complete dismissal of toxic masculinity by modern feminists. I haven’t read his book, but I’m guessing that the data supporting these points is anecdotal.
Many men have been socialized to prioritize their own needs and wants over those of others, opportunities for women have improved (until recently), and men don’t have the same unquestioned economic and social leverage enjoyed by previous generations. But they still have more of it than women do.
It’s analogous to fear around white replacement theory and reminds me of a guy working a dead end job, bemoaning having squandered his white, male privilege.
There are many examples of excellent men around us, including Biden, who demonstrate love, kindness, empathy, determination, a desire to contribute. Here’s an idea; Step up, pitch in, give back. Quit moaning about the loss of your damn throne.
Maybe we should get the next guy on The Bulwark to tell us about Reverse Racism. (Notice that no woman was *ever* concerned about that thankfully short-lived meme.)
Btw I’m obviously a proponent of free speech and covet difficult topics. But this one was so far afield on so many levels that I didn’t want it taking another 15 minutes in my brain. Like a worm!
I really did pause my donation as penance. I still love you Charlie. Your questions were admirable and delicately phrased. But still.
Excellent summary of all good things to know! True facts about the GOP self inflicted delusion.
One word: Benghazi!!!!!!!
Because the media is fixating on it, so that's what people are hearing and it's triggering them. Especially CNN, harps on it all the time. But no mention of TFG's unhinged mind at all, uh ugh
They said Sir: Shall we clean up the voter rolls Sir? Why yes Sir, we did that in spades Sir, with your lax covid response Sir. The gift that keeps on giving Sir. Thank you Sir!
RE: Rick Perry
Former Texas Governor and Energy Sec'y should just throw down the gauntlet and challenge Trump to a "Person. Woman. Man Camera. TV" memory test!!!
"Comer went on to say that “nine of the ten people that we’ve identified that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they’re one of three things. They’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing.”"
-----
Mr Comer is, once again, showing his MAGA chops - learned from the master, the Tangerine Tyrant. After showing time and time again that he and his Star Chamber committee have nothing (including a knowledge of where their star witness is) he has resorted to smear and innuendo:
"They’re either currently in court" said with an undertone of "The Biden Regime" sicced the DOJ on his witnesses who have done nothing wrong other than to be willing to testify as to the rampant corruption of the current administration. In return for doing their patriotic duty of keeping the politicians honest they are threatened with jail time.
"[T]hey’re currently in jail" probably convicted by a Democrat Socialist judge, appointed by Obama - the illegitimate POTUS, who is more interested in protecting their own than in seeing justice served. The American court system has been corrupted by the nefarious Democrat Party (and it is up to MAGA folk to be sure these partisan judges are replaced with honest conservative people).
"[T]hey’re currently missing" with the idea being either they are in hiding due to fear of potential bodily harm or are already dead and buried. Either way these brave people are being physically intimidated, or killed, at the behest of the Biden Crime Cartel.
All three of these concepts seem to be nothing more than obfuscation of the facts that Comer's committee has come up empty handed. The Republican House majority has been showing little to no interest in legislating for the good of the country so much as they have proven their ability to perform political theater. Their mantra appears to be "investigate, not legislate."
fnord
Marjorie is also whining about missing "whistleblowers", echoing Comer. There was actual proven corruption and whistleblowing during Trump's "presidency" and even now. Crickets from Comer, and every other R. I notice that McCarthy is keeping a very low profile, also McConnell.
Back then, whistleblowers were called "traitors."
I must not be taking these investigations seriously. I thought that he was talking about a set of people who were in jail, in court or missing due to their own malfeasances and poor behavior, rather than the deep state or Biden thugs menacing them. I must have lost track of this conspiracy theory.
I don't take the political theater of Mr Comer and the rest very seriously either. My point was that we are being offered a plate full of innuendo, not anything substantial. The MAGA crowd has a tendency to obfuscate and bloviate while thinking a majority of the people will eat their bovine scat, no questions asked.
fnord
Even Fox is calling them out on it. Has Murdoch had enough of those idiots?
Charlie:
Listened with interest to your podcast with Richard Reeves. I would say he's onto something - the dystopian future seen by many males certainly does impact our political situation dramatically, and for the worse, and he has numbers to prove it.
However, I think his solutions are a bit questionable. Democrats should not fear to say that they are taking steps to create more jobs for working-class men. First, I question the premise. I think Joe Biden has been quite clear in saying that there will be union jobs created by some of the initiatives passed last year and signed by Biden. There is still enough stereotyping assorted with the "union jobs" phrase to ensure that the message that these jobs are not all going to women will get through, even if he has phrased it in a non-sexist way. Messaging is perhaps not as important a factor as you and Mr. Reeves think.
Here is something more important:
A fundamental point is being lost here, and it may be inherent in the Bulwark's self-defined mission, as indicated by the self-ad for the Bulwark in the podcast. There, and in everything you do, the mission is basically seen as uniting the center-right and center-left against the Trumper crazies.
Fair enough, but you don't pay as much attention as you should to the center-left part of that equation.
As currently implemented by the Biden administration, the center-left is a coalition between the center and the left of the Democratic Party. In that framework, Biden has followed a line far more favorable to blue-collar work than previous DP policies were, under Obama, and where Hillary Clinton wanted to take the country.
The center-left divide in the DP was most clearly exposed in the 2016 primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. What were the pejoratives hurled by both sides in that fight? With Bernie, it was "the billionaire class" that Clinton was supposedly in thrall to. With Hillary, it was these "Bernie Bros", those toxically male sexist (and probably racist) Bernie supporters who were supposedly stuck in a troglodyte past, not "woke" enough.
This would imply that allies in the push that Reeves wants to make might more readily be found in the still-existent Bernie wing of the party, particularly those, like Bernie himself, who have not gone off the deep end of left-wing anti-Bidenism. But that brand still is deemed toxic by the center-right mainstay of the Bulwark, because it's too anti-capitalist for their tastes.
The Bulwark's goal of appealing to the center-left need to realize that the center-left is a coalition of the center and the left, both elements of which have something to offer to Bulwark fans. Yes, this means "union jobs", for one thing.
Psssst. I know who the informant for Rep Comer's committee is. It's Q.
Before social media Musk would have been one of those nerdy engineers locked up some where in the bowels of NASA.
Uh, they have pretty high hiring standards. On what basis do you assume that Musk would have made the cut? My understanding is that they guy isn't an engineer, but rather a wealthy person who decided to invest in some promising techs.
Did James Comer just say "The Dog Ate My Witness"?
“to ALL, in particular the Mothers, Wives and Lovers of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, and Communists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great Country. Please make these complete Lunatics and Maniacs Kinder, Gentler, Softer and, most importantly, Smarter, so that we can, quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
And therein lies the rub:
Since this comment was posted on “Truth Social” instead of Twitter, it didn’t require the proper “translator” usually reserved for most of Musk’s comments on the site. Had Trump’s latest “unhinged,” mix word salad been posted on Twitter, it could easily have been decrypted and disseminated in seconds and released to the masses, in a way we all can understand.
As a former Trump whisperer myself, I’ll give it my best:
“Anyone who doesn’t worship me is a loser and should be hung, drawn and quartered. Our country was once great, but it’s been overtaken by deep state liberals; with their science, math, history, common sense and equality for all. Who needs that or wants that for the matter! Religion in school is all you need. Expel all the groomers.
Additionally, It’s time “real” Americans take back this nation from these criminal immigrants, with their drugs and diseases. We need to expel everyone who isn’t us! No more Jews, liberals and gays. Mikey Mouse; gone! Meatball Ron; gone, not because he’s a liberal, he’s just an ungrateful loser who could never make it without me. Oh, and by the way, Happy Mother’s Day; only to real American mother’s. Trans women and Pete Buttigieg need not apply!”...:)
My take away from today’s column: Trump is Putin’s bitch, Elon is Erdogan’s bitch (don’t forget Xi’s bitch), and Comer is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Great piece on Russia and I always love Tom’s work.
Every "norrmie" Republican should be asked what they think of Trump's participation, with family members, in events dominated by Qanon conspiracy theories and fundamentalist apocalypticism, complete with fantasies about firing squads.
Trumpite apologists who want to be seen as intellectually sophisticated need to be pressed on whether those events represent their vision for restoring constitutional governance and traditional values.