Early weekend. Various things keeping me busy.
Friday, December 19, 2025
MAGA Infighting
There isn't a simple answer to why, but it has long been notable that journalists regularly cover the antics of B- and C-list conservatives - and this is not a new Trump era/MAGA thing as, for example, the annual obsessive coverage of CPAC, predates that - while almost never doing similar coverage of The Left (broadly defined).
Kirk’s widow endorses Vance as MAGA infighting ragesOne consequence is that when journalists talk about The Left they are generally just making up a guy, and don't have any idea what they are talking baout.
Erika Kirk told a Turning Point USA conference that she would work to elect JD Vance president in 2028, at an event in which MAGA divisions were on full display.
Egos and $
The reason they are sitting on the report is that the egos and gravy trains of important people might be hurt.
The concern is not bad press from the report itself. The concern is the subsequent reaction by the people and organizations it blames.
The "DNC" is often held up as some all-powerful institution. It is not in the way people imagine. But it is the conduit through which money flows - in and, of course, out - and that does matter. A lot.
Greg is saying a lot, but I think you can draw some further implications yourselves.
The concern is not bad press from the report itself. The concern is the subsequent reaction by the people and organizations it blames.
The "DNC" is often held up as some all-powerful institution. It is not in the way people imagine. But it is the conduit through which money flows - in and, of course, out - and that does matter. A lot.
Greg is saying a lot, but I think you can draw some further implications yourselves.
Take, for instance, the Future Forward super PAC, which had a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars for the 2024 contest. Well before Election Day, the PAC came under harsh criticism from some Democrats who argued that it hadn’t spent sufficient money earlier in the campaign on ads attacking Trump, which may have allowed Trump to rehabilitate himself after his 2020 loss and the January 6 insurrection.Hint:
Other Democrats charged that Future Forward’s ad-testing model and addiction to traditional TV ads led to anodyne communications and that its flawed theory of politics caused it to refrain from sufficiently targeting Trump, letting him avoid blame for his first-term disasters on Covid-19 and the economy. Still others said the PAC didn’t innovate in digital communications, failing to reach and motivate young and nonwhite voters who helped tip the election to the president.
There are grounds for thinking the DNC report digs into these problems. According to a DNC official, the analysis found, among other things, that the party didn’t invest sufficiently in innovative digital tools; that its digital ads didn’t reach young voters who no longer engage with broadcast and cable TV; and that Trump—with the help of an ecosystem of right-wing podcasters and influencers—outworked the Democrats in the information wars. Democrats must play catchup in this department, the report found.
It’s unclear what the DNC analysis concludes about key decisions made by the Biden campaign’s high command—people like reelection chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior adviser Anita Dunn, who is now an adviser to Future Forward—including the decision to stay in the race too long.
Crypto
This is a "skeptical" article of crypto, by the standards of these things, but it really is an example of how if there is lots of money involved, then people feel inclined to take it seriously. Crypto is good for scams, various other crimes/money laundering, and speculation.
There are technical reasons for the slump, most notably an extreme buildup of leveraged positions — speculative bets that can turbocharge gains but come with extreme downside risks — that were liquidated in an early October flash crash. But the protracted slump appears to be about more than just a hangover from that crash.What are you investing in? Nothing!
Risk appetite hasn’t gone away, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq has done even better than the broader stock market. So why are investors shunning this particular flavor of risk?
One explanation is that crypto culture has refused to grow up, and it’s keeping would-be investors on the sidelines.
At least NFTs gave you a picture of a cartoon ape which you could pretend was yours.
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Distractions
Who is gonna leak it?
DNC Chair Ken Martin ordered an autopsy shortly after taking over as the national party chairman earlier this year, stressing that the report should be released to help the party learn from its mistakes. But Martin said in a statement Thursday that his top priority is not distracting from helping the party "win."
Seems Bad
Yes this is because of the antivax movement, but there has been a lack of pushback in part because many people responded to covid with a petulant "MOOOOOOOM YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT DO DO" reaction
Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C., provided data to NBC News on DTaP vaccination rates, including 31 that provided specific data on how many kindergarteners got the first four doses of the vaccine.About 70% of the counties and jurisdictions in those 31 states were below the 95% target rate recommended for community protection, NBC News found. In Texas, where the Owens family lives, more than half of the counties — 58% — came in below that recommended rate.
Plenty of people who aren't antivax have decided that minor civic obligations are understandably despised by people.
The Best People
Contemplate the mind that thought "town hall with Charlie Kirk's widow" was like the Superbowl combined with publishing the Pentagon Papers.
Well If Elon Says It
The man has never missed a deadline.
Musk said that xAI could achieve artificial general intelligence, which matches or exceeds human intelligence, in the next few years, even as soon as 2026, sources said.
Still have a hard time posting because blogger puts a fucking hovering AI button over the input box.
And When It Doesn't Happen
Will the Democrats make noise about it? WILL our access journalists remember? Will "promises to our men and women in uniform" be seen as important, or maybe not so much anymore?
Even if it happens eventually, I don't think there is any way it happens by Xmas.
...ah i see this is how it will happen. Take with one hand, give with the other.
War Dividend
Narrator: they did not get $1776 in time for Christmas or, in fact ever.
Because of tariffs, along with the just passed One Big, Beautiful Bill, tonight I am also proud to announce that more than 1,000, 450,000, think of this, 1,450,000 military service members will receive a special, we call warrior dividend before Christmas, a warrior dividend. In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776. Think of that. And the checks are already on the way. Nobody understood that one until about 30 minutes ago. We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along. Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody. And by the way, we now have record enlistment in our military, and last year we had among the worst recruitment numbers in our military’s history. What a difference a year makes.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Push The "good economy" Button
Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but I expect the employment situation to continue to deteriorate, if not necessarily in a catastrophic fashion. Desperate Trump will demand that they bring him the "economy go boom" button and I am curious what they all think that button does. I mean, which policies would actually do that.
I Am Very Impressed By Donald Trump's Freedom Agenda
I don’t see all things, so maybe this isn't entirely correct, but my perception is that the commentariat is uncharacteristically quiet about our new mission to spread peance and freance to Venezuela.
There is almost nothing, unless I am somehow missing it, in the NYT opinion section, for example. A letter to the editor.
Must be conflicted.
Defining Nuclear Down
It was a dumb way to refer to the thing it has long referred to, but a few members thinking of voting a certain way doesn't even get close to warranting such a description.
In a stunning blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, four GOP lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to back a Democratic push to extend pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies.
Those four GOP centrists — New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan — have officially opted for what they have been describing as the nuclear option.
I suspect no one has ever referred to it that way before.
There have already been 3 successful discharge petitions in this Congress.
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