Monday, December 31, 2018
Mirror, Mirror
Any time the House Dems have an investigation of something, the Republicans in the Senate will run their own version of the investigation into the same issue, guaranteeing their version will get the most coverage because those are the rules.
The Kids Today
I do actually think that The Kids Today are different than The Kids Today of earlier times. Technological and other societal changes in recent years (really it's the phones) have made a somewhat discontinuous break from the past. What hasn't changed is dumb old people like me thinking that yelling at the kids on my lawn is a cool old guy thing to do rather than pathetic saddo old guy thing to do.
Nobody Listens to Atrios
This is a maddening kind of article of a style normally reserved for the political press.
Whose expectations? People who write this stuff for a living and apparently didn't do a very good job.
Which public? I don't think polls about this stuff have much meaning, but on a subject like this "The public" mostly means "people who write articles for niche publications about self-driving cars." The hype was coming from inside the house and self-driving cars are just the bumper cars we met along the way.
And "more realistic expectations" are basically that we are "never" going to get our self-driving taxis, and that aside from some niche applications of limited commercial value there probably will be very few consumer applications in the foreseeable future. There might be more freight applications but I suspect even those are not going to be taking over the industry any time soon.
As 2018 dawned, expectations for self-driving vehicles were sky-high:
Whose expectations? People who write this stuff for a living and apparently didn't do a very good job.
Driverless cars seemed to reach peak hype some time in late 2017. Then in 2018, the industry plunged into the trough of disillusionment, with some people wondering if driverless technology might be decades away. But today's extreme pessimism seems as unwarranted as the extreme optimism we saw a year ago. Maybe in 2019, the public will start to develop more realistic expectations for self-driving technology.
Which public? I don't think polls about this stuff have much meaning, but on a subject like this "The public" mostly means "people who write articles for niche publications about self-driving cars." The hype was coming from inside the house and self-driving cars are just the bumper cars we met along the way.
And "more realistic expectations" are basically that we are "never" going to get our self-driving taxis, and that aside from some niche applications of limited commercial value there probably will be very few consumer applications in the foreseeable future. There might be more freight applications but I suspect even those are not going to be taking over the industry any time soon.
What Liberals Need To Do Is Shut Up
It is not the case that half the country works for the team D and half the country works for team R. We can debate a bit about how much getting team D elected is important relative to other kinds of political activism, but you can't control people. If you're a politician, such as an about to be retired one whose name rhymes with Laire McBaskill, you cannot expect to control "The Left." It's your job to get 50%+1 people in your relevant geographic area to vote for you, and you can't get mad because some dumb liberal said something on TV, or because pro-choice activists had other things to worry about than getting you elected, etc. You don't have to love this stuff, but you have no power to change it. It's your job to figure out how to get elected in the world you live in, not the world you want to live in.
Dumb liberals are dumb, fine, and they don't understand the struggles of a rich politician in Missouri, fine, but, dumb liberals don't work for you and if it's so important that they shut up then "making dumb liberals like you" should be a concern. You can't shut them up by yelling at them.
Generally, "centrist" Dems in red states can lecture about winning elections in red states all they want (though such rules do not apply in, you know, blue states) as long as they actually win elections. When they lose them they get to shut up about how it's everybody else's fault, particular when it's the fault of random voters. It isn't as if Dem leadership was forcing tough votes on these people all of the time, because Paul and Mitch have been in charge of such things.
I'm no highly paid political consultant, but I suspect that what swing and non-voters want in red states is not a 1995-era centrist Democrat, even if they don't want full communism like I do. "What voters in the heartland want is best articulated by Richard Cohen and Fred Hiatt" has always been a rather strange approach to politics.
Dumb liberals are dumb, fine, and they don't understand the struggles of a rich politician in Missouri, fine, but, dumb liberals don't work for you and if it's so important that they shut up then "making dumb liberals like you" should be a concern. You can't shut them up by yelling at them.
Generally, "centrist" Dems in red states can lecture about winning elections in red states all they want (though such rules do not apply in, you know, blue states) as long as they actually win elections. When they lose them they get to shut up about how it's everybody else's fault, particular when it's the fault of random voters. It isn't as if Dem leadership was forcing tough votes on these people all of the time, because Paul and Mitch have been in charge of such things.
I'm no highly paid political consultant, but I suspect that what swing and non-voters want in red states is not a 1995-era centrist Democrat, even if they don't want full communism like I do. "What voters in the heartland want is best articulated by Richard Cohen and Fred Hiatt" has always been a rather strange approach to politics.
Sunday, December 30, 2018
The Mommy Party
It's the dumb pundit frame that's been in operation for years. Republicans are the Very Serious Daddy party and they bring order and stability, a good income, a level of Seriousness, fiscal responsibility, and are entitled by law to head all of the really important positions, like Defense, Intelligence, FBI, etc. Democrats are the Mommy Party and they do things like take care of the birthday parties and fix your knee when you have a booboo and hug you when you cry.
But the reality is, the stereotypical "mommy" work is actually really important. The kids gotta eat and get to school, after all. More than that, Mommy takes care of most of the "serious" work while Dad just takes credit for it.
The deficit will soon be the most important crisis this country faces, again, and while that is stupid and wrong, the pundits will demand that the Mommy Party save all of its dimes and quarters for a "rainy day" instead of buying new shoes for the kid, which she will do, and then Daddy will take credit for the savings and go on a binge party in Las Vegas with his rich buddies.
As he does every single time.
But the reality is, the stereotypical "mommy" work is actually really important. The kids gotta eat and get to school, after all. More than that, Mommy takes care of most of the "serious" work while Dad just takes credit for it.
The deficit will soon be the most important crisis this country faces, again, and while that is stupid and wrong, the pundits will demand that the Mommy Party save all of its dimes and quarters for a "rainy day" instead of buying new shoes for the kid, which she will do, and then Daddy will take credit for the savings and go on a binge party in Las Vegas with his rich buddies.
As he does every single time.
Still Gonna Jam
One self-driving car fantasy is basically, "a taxi, but cheaper," the other one is "self-driving cars will solve traffic jams." If everyone's in a self-driving car that works great then safe distances between moving cars can be shorter and congestion caused by a cascade of drivers braking unnecessarily can be reduced. Like all self-driving car things I'm skeptical that any of this works as well as people imagine, but even if it does work you're going to increase capacity by... what.. 20%? I mean, great, cool, but that doesn't solve traffic jams. Can still only fit so many cars.
I admit I giggle when people in residential neighborhoods try to find ways to block outside traffic when Waze starts redirecting people through them. Not because I don't sympathize, but if I tried that in my urban residential neighborhood, the response would be "what do you expect, you live in a city?"
I admit I giggle when people in residential neighborhoods try to find ways to block outside traffic when Waze starts redirecting people through them. Not because I don't sympathize, but if I tried that in my urban residential neighborhood, the response would be "what do you expect, you live in a city?"
Nobody Could Have Predicted
I guess John Kelly reads this stupid blog for inspiration...
Citing the thorny question of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Trump’s urge to pull out of Nato, the Times said Kelly “defended his rocky tenure, arguing that it is best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side”.
Going Out With Class
Claire McCaskill would have gotten away with it if not for those meddling kids.
I'd say the default position of "elder statespeople" should be to applaud The Kids Today for their achievements. Watching McCaskill over the years, I think she's always been upset that she didn't receive more plaudits from the dem base, even as punching the dem base was part of her schtick. And, ok, I get it, a bit. Good lefties are supposed to understand that it's hard to win in places like Missouri and we're supposed to applaud them for simply doing that. Not enough love for McCaskill over the years. But to the extent this is all a grand game, there isn't much point in hippie punching if you don't make them a bit mad. She plays her part, and we play ours, in the theater of politics. Also, too, there's no point in hippie punching when you're a few days from retirement.
Centrist sniping at Ocasio-Cortez is so weird. She's a freshman member of the House (about to be) from that liberal enclave, New York City. If we can't have lefties there, we can't have them anywhere...
Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday responded to outgoing Sen. Claire McCaskill on Twitter after the Missouri Democrat referred to the incoming congresswoman as "a bright shiny new object" earlier this week.
I'd say the default position of "elder statespeople" should be to applaud The Kids Today for their achievements. Watching McCaskill over the years, I think she's always been upset that she didn't receive more plaudits from the dem base, even as punching the dem base was part of her schtick. And, ok, I get it, a bit. Good lefties are supposed to understand that it's hard to win in places like Missouri and we're supposed to applaud them for simply doing that. Not enough love for McCaskill over the years. But to the extent this is all a grand game, there isn't much point in hippie punching if you don't make them a bit mad. She plays her part, and we play ours, in the theater of politics. Also, too, there's no point in hippie punching when you're a few days from retirement.
Centrist sniping at Ocasio-Cortez is so weird. She's a freshman member of the House (about to be) from that liberal enclave, New York City. If we can't have lefties there, we can't have them anywhere...
Saturday, December 29, 2018
This Could Be Hell
Trump is not very good at coming up with new material. I picture him desperately coming up with some new sick burn for Crooked Hillary or finding something to rhyme with "wall."
Can only listen to Hotel California so many times.
Can only listen to Hotel California so many times.
Friday, December 28, 2018
The Last Person Between The Country And Oblivion
At some point we're going to get dozens of ex-Trumpkin job memoirs about how almost every decision they had to implement was oh so troubling but they stuck around to do what they could to slow or stop the worst of it and keep the country from descending into hell. This would be almost believable in some cases except in every one there will be a period between the resignation date, and the book contract/advance/publication dates during which they will be mysteriously silent as they await their book payoffs and subsequent MSNBC shows.
Everybody's gotta eat, but most of these people are going to eat well anyway, and while they can justify their silence while on the job, they can't justify it once they left.
Everybody's gotta eat, but most of these people are going to eat well anyway, and while they can justify their silence while on the job, they can't justify it once they left.
America's Top Thinkfluencers
From Pareene.
The Only Answer To Our Political Problems Is For Me To Do Nothing
By Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)
Is America irreparably divided? The question is unavoidable. I hear some form of it daily, from hog butchers, schoolteachers or Jake Tapper. And it is an understandable concern. Democrats and Republicans alike have turned politics in a totalizing culture war.
What The President MUST DO
What HAS to happen...
What the Democrats MUST do...
Years of reading these types of formulations for op-ed pieces and blog posts has driven me nuts. Especially as they people who write them usually forget about this moral imperative, this existential marker, that they declared after about 24 hours.
Yah, well, internet guy, what're you gonna do about it?
What the Democrats MUST do...
Years of reading these types of formulations for op-ed pieces and blog posts has driven me nuts. Especially as they people who write them usually forget about this moral imperative, this existential marker, that they declared after about 24 hours.
Yah, well, internet guy, what're you gonna do about it?
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