Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Craig Lamson]

Did he really say that? How is allowing more people to contribute to their self-governance “socialism??”  Is “socialism” just the code word for anything a Republican doesn’t like? Is being gay socialism? Are cats socialism?  What about Hawaiian pizza??? socialism!!!!

I would think the bigger question is "Do any of them know how to get on the internet?"

[Robert Roaldi]

I read that Trump appeared on Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN yesterday to eulogize Rush Limbaugh. I know you will find this hard to believe, but I refrained from tuning in to hear his remarks. Reading about it was bad enough. I actually used to listen to Rush Limbaugh for entertainment whenever I had to go on a road trip for work. When you are out in the middle of nowhere it is impossible to pick up NPR. It was sometimes tricky to find Rush Limbaugh among all the religious stations on the AM band. It used to be you had to turn the knob to change stations. I liked that better. It was a quicker way to find your station. Now you have to push a button which takes you to the next frequency in tiny increments, so it takes about a hundred button pushes to get from one end of the band to the other. Frequently you would arrive at your destination before you got to the end, in which case the entertainment value was in pushing the button. Do you know what Rush Limbaugh will be remembered for? Elevating the term "big fat idiot" to common usage. You never heard that term before Rush Limbaugh came along. You think I am kidding. Before I posted this comment, I googled "big fat idiot" and the first search result was Russ Limbaugh's obituary.

Decades ago I would occasionally entertain myself by watching Kenneth Copeland or Jimmy Lee Swaggart on TV, although I couldn't take more than 10 min or so. I remember one Sunday morning listening to Swaggart riff on Sweden. He couldn't say the word "Sweden" without a sneer on his face and in his voice. You can imagine members of the audience recoiling at anything Swedish, lest they become tainted, not unlike someone from the year 1132 backing away from a witch while holding up a cross. Hard to imagine being that ignorant, but there it is.

[faberryman]

Decades ago I would occasionally entertain myself by watching Kenneth Copeland or Jimmy Lee Swaggart on TV, although I couldn't take more than 10 min or so. I remember one Sunday morning listening to Swaggart riff on Sweden. He couldn't say the word "Sweden" without a sneer on his face and in his voice. You can imagine members of the audience recoiling at anything Swedish, lest they become tainted, not unlike someone from the year 1132 backing away from a witch while holding up a cross. Hard to imagine being that ignorant, but there it is.

The way to reclaim such unfortunate souls is to make them watch a couple of those Sesame Street segments featuring the Swedish Chef. Everyone loves the Swedish Chef.

https://youtu.be/0Q8o61kqFvA

[Alan Klein]

Did he really say that? How is allowing more people to contribute to their self-governance “socialism??”  Is “socialism” just the code word for anything a Republican doesn’t like? Is being gay socialism? Are cats socialism?  What about Hawaiian pizza??? socialism!!!!

Four more Democrat senators would help assure the Democrat's socialism agenda. 

[Alan Klein]

Yes. It is a dog whistle. You can object to the characterization by explaining to the dog whistler what the term socialism actually means in political and economic theory, but you are wasting your time. Even if the dog whistler ultimately concedes that to which he objects is not socialism, he will change his characterization and instead say is the first step on the road to socialism. [cue Willie Nelson here] A good example is calling Bernie Sanders a socialist. Bernie Sanders is not a socialist. Bernie Sanders is a social democrat. But then you have to explain the difference between socialism and democratic socialism and by that time you have lost your audience. My advice is to simply say that whatever the dog whistler objects to as socialism is not socialism to log your objection and move on. It is not possible to have a rational conversation with an irrational person. At least that has been my experience.

Sanders isn't a socialist.  He's a Marxist.  Who would go to the Soviet Union on their honeymoon?

[Alan Klein]

This is why we have to get back to work.   Unemployment claims worse than expected.  Numbers revised upwards for previous week by 55K.

"Weekly unemployment claims unexpectedly surged last week, rising above 800,000 as the labor market recovery stalled.

The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg:

Initial jobless claims, week ended February 13: 861,000 vs. 773,000 expected and an upwardly revised 848,000 during prior week

Continuing claims, week ended February 6: 4.494 million vs. 4.425 million expected and an upwardly revised 4.558 million during prior week

At 861,000, new jobless claims posted a surprise back-to-back weekly increase to reach the highest level in one month. The prior week's new claims were also upwardly revised to 848,000, from the 793,000 reported previously. "
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-jobless-claims-week-ended-february-13-labor-market-190229296.html

[faberryman]

Sanders isn't a socialist.  He's a Marxist.  Who would go to the Soviet Union on their honeymoon?

The Hemitage in St. Petersburg has a fantastic art collection.

"Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict as well as a dialectical perspective to view social transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. As Marxism has developed over time into various branches and schools of thought, there is currently no single definitive Marxist theory." (emphasis added)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

[faberryman]

This is why we have to get back to work.   Unemployment claims worse than expected.  Numbers revised upwards for previous week by 55K.

The only people I know who are not back at work are restaurant workers. Everyone around here is back at work and has been since last summer. I think most of the unemployment is occasioned by what I believe you call "zombie companies" who were unable make a go of it, but who were going to fail anyway. I believe you said that the employees of the zombie companies would be hired by the successful companies, so maybe we just have to be patient. It is the free market after all. Survival of the fittest and all that.

If you want to play a part in the renaissance of our once great nation, perhaps you could get a part time job selling cigarettes down at MAPCO. It pays minimum wage, which is the value of someone selling cigarettes down at MAPCO. Perhaps you could earn more if you also swept the floors.

[Alan Klein]

The Hemitage in St. Petersburg has a fantastic art collection.

"Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict as well as a dialectical perspective to view social transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. As Marxism has developed over time into various branches and schools of thought, there is currently no single definitive Marxist theory." (emphasis added)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

Sure, Bernie went to the Soviet Union to study the art owned by the Czars.

[faberryman]

Four more Democrat senators would help assure the Democrat's socialism agenda.

See what I mean.

[kers]

Sure, Bernie went to the Soviet Union to study the art owned by the Czars.

And Trump went to Russia to get a Trump Tower there... he was very welcome...

[Alan Klein]

The only people I know who are not back at work are restaurant workers. Everyone around here is back at work and has been since last summer. I think most of the unemployment is occasioned by what I believe you call "zombie companies" who were unable make a go of it, but who were going to fail anyway. I believe you said that the employees of the zombie companies would be hired by the successful companies, so maybe we just have to be patient. It is the free market after all. Survival of the fittest and all that.

If you want to play a part in the renaissance of our once great nation, perhaps you could get a part time job selling cigarettes down at MAPCO. It pays minimum wage, which is the value of someone selling cigarettes down at MAPCO. Perhaps you could earn more if you also swept the place.

800,000 more restaurant workers?  In one week. This has got to be deeper than that.  Are wedding photographers working again?

We've been pushing around a million a week of new unemployment for going on a year.   If it's zombie company workers, what's going to happen once the government stops supplying them blood money?  Even where you live?  What's going on in other countries for those who live outside the US?  Are you seeing employment picking up or are you still getting slammed with losses like we are?

[Alan Klein]

I thought I heard the Fed Chairman say the real unemployment is around ten percent, not 6 percent.  I bet it's a lot higher than that because they stopped counting people who have given up looking for a job they can't find anyway.

[Alan Klein]

And Trump went to Russia to get a Trump Tower there... he was very welcome...

What's wrong with that.  I'm in favor of capitalism.  If you could sell your pictures to a bunch of Russians on Red Square, I'd be very happy for you too. 

[James Clark]

I would think the bigger question is "Do any of them know how to get on the internet?"

It's funny you mention that.  I had a longer post in mind, but I was on my phone because we had no power yesterday, being in Texas and all...  (It's back now - no water though.  Bummer)

Anyway, my thought was that most of these guys - left, right, center above a certain age just don't have a clue about really important things like cybersecurity and contemporary infrastructure, and that's really, really bad.   For all the controversy that an AOC or a Matt Gaetz gin up, I'd bet my paycheck that either of them have a better grip on a lot of very important technological issues than Pelosi, McConnell and the rest of the leadership do. 

Also, welcome back.

[Alan Klein]

It's funny you mention that.  I had a longer post in mind, but I was on my phone because we had no power yesterday, being in Texas and all...  (It's back now - no water though.  Bummer)

Anyway, my thought was that most of these guys - left, right, center above a certain age just don't have a clue about really important things like cybersecurity and contemporary infrastructure, and that's really, really bad.   For all the controversy that an AOC or a Matt Gaetz gin up, I'd bet my paycheck that either of them have a better grip on a lot of very important technological issues than Pelosi, McConnell and the rest of the leadership do. 

Also, welcome back.

AOC predicted the world is going to end in twelve years. 

[James Clark]

Sanders isn't a socialist.  He's a Marxist.  Who would go to the Soviet Union on their honeymoon?

Who would go to Russia to hang with Putin on the 4th of July?  Oh yeah - these clowns.

[Alan Klein]

PS glad to see you back and hope you get your water soon too.

[faberryman]

Sure, Bernie went to the Soviet Union to study the art owned by the Czars.

I don't know where Bernie and his bride went or what they did on their honeymoon in Russia, but I hope they enjoyed themselves, and learned new things by experiencing a different culture. I experienced a different culture on my honeymoon and learned that you cannot make a good banana daiquiri with a plantain. I was young and naïve and didn't know about plantains. They looked like bananas in the market to me.

[James Clark]

Four more Democrat senators would help assure the Democrat's socialism agenda.

I had no idea Hawaiian pizza and cats were so frightening to people.