Tag Archives: Politics

Slow Learners

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Us Democrats.

Did you see the story about the Mad King and drug prices? Here’s an overview from (cough, cough) Fox Business News.

“President Donald Trump used the story of an overweight friend getting weight-loss medication at a much lower cost overseas to illustrate why he’s working to cut prescription drug prices for Americans. 

Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week, the president said one of his ‘slightly overweight’ friends purchased what Trump called a ‘fat shot’ in London for significantly less money than in the U.S.

‘He called me and he said, ‘Hey, strange thing happened. I just bought a drug, same company, same plant, same everything, everything was the same. In one case, I paid in New York $1,300 and in London, I’m paying $88,’ Trump recounted. ‘He said, ‘What’s going on?’”

I heard multiple Demo opinion leaders rip the MK for flippantly using ‘fat shot’. They probably preferred “weight control injection”.

More important is what Fox left out of its own reporting on its own interview. At the end of the story, the MK smirked and added, “I told my friend, it’s not working.”

Demo opinion leaders were appalled. How dare the MK call his friend fat. They were genuinely upset. Uncouth. Not presidential.

I wondered, were they asleep from 2016-2020?

The Mad King’s secret sauce is the contrast with all the politicians who came before him who said exactly what they thought everyone wanted to hear, not necessarily what they were thinking. And his contemporaries who regularly measure their words too closely to connect with anyone.

People dig the Mad King for saying things no one else will. Telling his friend his “fat shot” was not working harkens to the middle school nature of my friends’ group text.

Sometimes I wonder whether some Demos have had their sense of humor surgically removed. Telling his friend his fat shot was not working was rude, crude, and funny. People like that it’s unexpected and not at all presidential. That’s the point. That the Demos still don’t get.

Some Demos are trying to get it by using the “f” word more often. I agree with Michael Adam’s take on that.

“I think that in the case of the Democratic candidates … the swearing reflects their sense of crisis,” said Michael Adams, a lexicography expert and author of the book “In Praise of Profanity.”

The Mad King’s calculus is “If all of your peers are trying to appeal to the largest possible audience, do the opposite.” Talk like and to non-elites, who greatly outnumber the humorless, and too polite for their own good elites.

Orange Jesus Explained

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If you’re anything like me, you don’t “get” Iowa. More specifically, you wonder, “What’s up with Iowans?” Especially, the white evangelicals.

David P. Gushee thinks he gets “it”.

From “The Deification of Donald Trump Poses Some Interesting Questions“.

“Trump’s evolution into a Jesus-like figure for some but not all white evangelicals began soon after he began his first presidential campaign. As David P. Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, explained by email:

‘Some of Trump’s Christian followers do appear to have grown to see him as a kind of religious figure. He is a savior. I think it began with the sense that he was uniquely committed to saving them from their foes (liberals, Democrats, elites, seculars, illegal immigrants, etc.) and saving America from all that threatens it.’

In this sense, Gushee continued, ‘a savior does not have to be a good person but just needs to fulfill his divinely appointed role. Trump is seen by many as actually having done so while president.’

This view of Trump is especially strong ‘in the Pentecostal wing of the conservative Christian world,’ Gushee wrote, where he is sometimes also viewed as an anointed leader sent by God. ‘Anointed’ here means set apart and especially equipped by God for a holy task. Sometimes the most unlikely people got anointed by God in the Bible. So Trump’s unlikeliness for this role is actually evidence in favor. The multiple criminal charges against Trump serve to strengthen the belief of many evangelicals about his ties to God, according to Gushee:

‘The prosecutions underway against Trump have been easily interpretable as signs of persecution, which can then connect to the suffering Jesus theme in Christianity. Trump has been able to leverage that with lines like, “They’re not persecuting me. They’re persecuting you.” The idea that he is unjustly suffering and, in so doing, vicariously absorbing the suffering that his followers would be enduring is a powerful way for Trump to be identified with Jesus.'”

No doubt, add a lot of PressingPausers to the list of liberals, Democrats, elites, seculars, illegal immigrants, and other nefarious foes that many Iowans think they need saving from.

Of course, they don’t really know any PressingPausers, some of whom I’m indebted to for reaching out after my recent “It’s My Parents’ Fault” post. I had a beer with one in Olympia yesterday. Others in Olympia; Greensboro, NC; Huntington Beach, CA; and Japan messaged, texted, and emailed. Trust me, no one needs saving from them. They’re savers of others.

Two Economies

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In the (dis)United States, despite a bevy of positive economic indicators, the President’s approval rating hovers around 38%. I thought it was all about the economy, but what do I know.

Inflation has moderated, but the cost of housing—whether buying a home or renting an apartment or home—is still too damn high. Positive economic data isn’t making people feel any better about their economic prospects.

In fact, there are two economies. One consisting of the “new aristocracy”, or top 10%, who have only grown more wealthy in recent years. And the other, the 90% doing everything they can to tread water. In actuality, a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats, just ten percent of them.

I can’t pontificate on economic matters in any more detail than that, because as a part of the new aristocracy, I’m out of touch with most people.

It would be unbecoming to be any more specific about my economic status, but suffice to say, as this picture illustrates so convincingly, the Biden economy has been very good to me.

Can George Santos Support Himself?

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The George Santos reporting has been excruciatingly superficial. The continuous platforming of a congenital liar; the should he or shouldn’t he be expelled; the can the R’s afford to possibly lose the seat; the Botox, Hermès, Sephora and OnlyFans.

Among many others, here are two questions no one seems to be asking:

How did he get 145,824 New Yorkers to vote for him in 2022? That’s 20,420 more than his opponent. Why did everyone find out about his mental condition after the election? Also, the 2022 New York Third Congressional election results were not an anomaly. Why are we still, despite access to unprecedented information about people, so incredibly susceptible to conmen and women? Maybe the avalanche of information works to their advantage? Clearly, we’re increasingly susceptible to congenital liars in politics, business/finance, religious life, fill in the blank.

The second thing you won’t hear a reporter ask is can GS support himself? Does he have any specialized work experience, knowledge, or skills that an employer would value enough to pay him a livable wage? Even setting aside his mental health issues and nightmare character,I highly doubt it. In that respect, he’s emblematic of many young men and women who are finding it exceedingly difficult to approximate their parents’ economic security and lifestyles.

By far, the easiest thing to do is to make fun of Mary Magdalene. Much harder is figuring out how to avoid being taken by GS-like charlatans over and over. Also much harder is helping the GS’s of the world live independent lives. Unless GS figures out how to exploit our celebrity culture in the spirit of his political mentor, the Former Guy, I expect him to end up in and out of prison, with the public paying his room and board.

And that’s the news from the edge of the Salish.

Postscript. Shit.

That Time My Nephew Called Me A “Miscreant”

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A “miscreant” is a person who behaves badly or in a way that breaks the law.

See number 6. In fairness, it can’t be easy being a radical lefty in the wilderness known as Ohio. He’s also a diehard Ohio State football fan so he’s still reeling from the Wolverine ass whupping.

Put all that together and I’m gonna let it slide.

One noteworthy thing he sidesteps, he could never substack like that in China.

San Francisco Leans A Little Left

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By which I mean it has to be the most liberal city in the country.

Let’s say an international reader of the Humble Blog wanted to visit the (dis)United States. But they only had time to visit two places. And their goal was to get as good a feel as possible for the most liberal and conservative places in the country. San Francisco is the obvious answer to the first half of the equation, but what about the second? Where is the most conservative place in the country? Which city is San Francisco’s extreme counterpoint? And how do you know?

I’m Not A Political Consultant

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But I could be. Imagine if Trump’s campaign was a bit more inclusive and I was hired to advise on messaging and strategy.

The incessant attacks on Biden’s character are a dead-end. A lot of Republicans fret about his probable policies, but they also know deep down, he’s a decent person. And human decency counts now more than ever. Instead, focus on real threats to American life by tweeting this out:

It’s grossly unfair that college professors have lifetime job security and an all-time great President has to reapply for his job after only four years.

Then just sit back and watch the “likes” and retweets.

And here’s how you blunt the criticism that the President hasn’t clearly communicated what he hopes to accomplish in a second term. Again, tweet this:

Authoritarianism. Just try it. What have you got to lose?

The first two-thirds of that would also make an excellent bumper sticker and pin.

Weeks ago, I also would’ve insisted on placing a voting box at every truck stop and boat ramp in Florida.

And lastly, that 400-person White House party planned for tonight, I’d trim that guest list by about 396 people.