With regard to Pete Hegseth's nomination, I again have to be somewhat contrarian.
I can't got with the "calm down" idea, even though I get the sense that the section should have ended with /s.
We on the left have spent too much time reacting to gains and pushes for gains by the reactionaries with our version of the stages of grief, from outrage to calming down ("Maybe it won't be so bad, we can get through this" and the like) to passive acceptance. (Section 702 of FISA, once a major focus of opposition to government intrusions into privacy, came up recently and the overall reaction seemed to be "What? Which? Oh, yeah, I remember that - I think.")
There is a story about putting a frog in a pot of hot water with the idea the frog will just sit there and get cooked alive if the water is heated slowly enough. It's a myth; it turns out in practice that when the water gets too hot, the frog jumps out. However, we as a society are in danger of making that myth a reality if we continue to treat moves to turn us into a theocracy with some version of "we can get through this."
I listened to the Hegseth confirmation all day at work, and it was a farce. Of course republicans were soft balling him and high fiving him with easy questions. But he still stumbled. There were numerous instances of his thinly veiled performative BS regarding his okayness with women, LGBTQ+, etc. in the military. Senators Warren, Hinoro, and Duckworth gave him a good beating, digging into his financial failures, lack of foreign affairs knowledge, and “epiphany” that women in combat roles are just the same as the guys. They tripped him up for certain, but I fear that the farce will continue. I’ve lost faith in our elected leaders to do the right thing.
Let's take a moment to congratulate Merrick Garland on retiring with a perfect undefeated record! We all know how much that means to Merrick Garland and how hard he worked to keep that perfect record intact! Congratulations on this historic achievement Merrick Garland! You should be very proud of yourself!
Yes friends just like Jesus it is The Second Coming Of Insane Clown! He Came! He was Crucified! He is Resurrected! It is all inscribed in The Book Of Retribution!
You’ve said you’re half assing. I would like to offer you the phrase my mother used frequently and I followed in her footsteps. I like this phrase. It’s drag assing around. She would say to me sternly when I was too slow “Quit your drag assing around! Try it. You might like it. Lol
If this was half-assed I don't think I could take you at full strength. JK! This religious bent of hegseth's, I really didn't pay a lot of attention to it because I thought he was being provocative, showing out for attention. I still don't think he's all that religious, but it seems to hold sway with holy mike and all these other fakers. Politics is one of the most cutthroat and cynical of professions, so yeah no, there is not one Christian in there. I'm not particularly religious, maybe that's why I don't give it much weight.
Thank you, Jon, for shedding more light on this. This morning, I asked my semi-agnostic husband did he believe in the devil. Yes, he said "he's going to be president".
Thank you, Jonathan! You are 1,000% correct - and get extra points - in a sea of bright people who utterly ignore rabid religious fundamentalism as THE problem in a nation founded on the separation of church and state. What IS the problem exactly - that the Left’s well-educated “leaders” are speechless in identifying violations of the separation of church and state? Do they not know that fundamentalist ministers literally tell their congregations that “they will go to hell” if they vote for a Democrat? Do they not know the words to use to call out this manipulation and brainwashing? Why are the Left’s leaders so unwilling to call this out?
It needed to be exposed in 1979 with the Moral Majority driving Reagan’s campaign. It needed to be exposed when Baby Bush declared his conversion to fundamentalism and his use of the term “axis of evil” to brainwash Americans. It needed to be called out as Fox news ranted daily for decades that “Democrats are Godless atheists”. The think tanks on the Right have highly-educated social engineers who knew the best way to manipulate gullible Americans was to play to their fear of God and fear of going to hell - plus advocate for Armageddon as a solution to “sin”. It has worked spectacularly.
But - why have leaders on the Left been so utterly impotent - for decades - at addressing this social engineering?
Tommy Tuberville managed to bring up his lord and savior whilst questioning Hegseth this morning. Elizabeth Warren never mentioned Jesus, but she did rain down some good old fashioned hell on Pete. As nearly as I can tell, only Democrats are concerned with whether he can actually do the job for which he’s being considered. Onward Christian soldiers?
With regard to Pete Hegseth's nomination, I again have to be somewhat contrarian.
I can't got with the "calm down" idea, even though I get the sense that the section should have ended with /s.
We on the left have spent too much time reacting to gains and pushes for gains by the reactionaries with our version of the stages of grief, from outrage to calming down ("Maybe it won't be so bad, we can get through this" and the like) to passive acceptance. (Section 702 of FISA, once a major focus of opposition to government intrusions into privacy, came up recently and the overall reaction seemed to be "What? Which? Oh, yeah, I remember that - I think.")
There is a story about putting a frog in a pot of hot water with the idea the frog will just sit there and get cooked alive if the water is heated slowly enough. It's a myth; it turns out in practice that when the water gets too hot, the frog jumps out. However, we as a society are in danger of making that myth a reality if we continue to treat moves to turn us into a theocracy with some version of "we can get through this."
This read deserves an award. I’m speechless with gratitude.
Love your writing. Spot on. Excellent. Thank you!
He's "redeemed" until he falls off the wagon again.
What a load of rubbish.
I listened to the Hegseth confirmation all day at work, and it was a farce. Of course republicans were soft balling him and high fiving him with easy questions. But he still stumbled. There were numerous instances of his thinly veiled performative BS regarding his okayness with women, LGBTQ+, etc. in the military. Senators Warren, Hinoro, and Duckworth gave him a good beating, digging into his financial failures, lack of foreign affairs knowledge, and “epiphany” that women in combat roles are just the same as the guys. They tripped him up for certain, but I fear that the farce will continue. I’ve lost faith in our elected leaders to do the right thing.
Let's take a moment to congratulate Merrick Garland on retiring with a perfect undefeated record! We all know how much that means to Merrick Garland and how hard he worked to keep that perfect record intact! Congratulations on this historic achievement Merrick Garland! You should be very proud of yourself!
Yes friends just like Jesus it is The Second Coming Of Insane Clown! He Came! He was Crucified! He is Resurrected! It is all inscribed in The Book Of Retribution!
Damn, Jon, that's the best "half-assing" I have ever seen:) Seriously, man, excellent investigative journalism spiced with superior snark. So good.
The title of this piece really should have been "Only Jesus Has More Immunity Than Trump"
You’ve said you’re half assing. I would like to offer you the phrase my mother used frequently and I followed in her footsteps. I like this phrase. It’s drag assing around. She would say to me sternly when I was too slow “Quit your drag assing around! Try it. You might like it. Lol
If this was half-assed I don't think I could take you at full strength. JK! This religious bent of hegseth's, I really didn't pay a lot of attention to it because I thought he was being provocative, showing out for attention. I still don't think he's all that religious, but it seems to hold sway with holy mike and all these other fakers. Politics is one of the most cutthroat and cynical of professions, so yeah no, there is not one Christian in there. I'm not particularly religious, maybe that's why I don't give it much weight.
Thank you, Jon, for shedding more light on this. This morning, I asked my semi-agnostic husband did he believe in the devil. Yes, he said "he's going to be president".
Thank you, Jonathan! You are 1,000% correct - and get extra points - in a sea of bright people who utterly ignore rabid religious fundamentalism as THE problem in a nation founded on the separation of church and state. What IS the problem exactly - that the Left’s well-educated “leaders” are speechless in identifying violations of the separation of church and state? Do they not know that fundamentalist ministers literally tell their congregations that “they will go to hell” if they vote for a Democrat? Do they not know the words to use to call out this manipulation and brainwashing? Why are the Left’s leaders so unwilling to call this out?
It needed to be exposed in 1979 with the Moral Majority driving Reagan’s campaign. It needed to be exposed when Baby Bush declared his conversion to fundamentalism and his use of the term “axis of evil” to brainwash Americans. It needed to be called out as Fox news ranted daily for decades that “Democrats are Godless atheists”. The think tanks on the Right have highly-educated social engineers who knew the best way to manipulate gullible Americans was to play to their fear of God and fear of going to hell - plus advocate for Armageddon as a solution to “sin”. It has worked spectacularly.
But - why have leaders on the Left been so utterly impotent - for decades - at addressing this social engineering?
Maybe for the same reason they’ve been utterly impotent at addressing every other problem? Just a possibility.
Tommy Tuberville managed to bring up his lord and savior whilst questioning Hegseth this morning. Elizabeth Warren never mentioned Jesus, but she did rain down some good old fashioned hell on Pete. As nearly as I can tell, only Democrats are concerned with whether he can actually do the job for which he’s being considered. Onward Christian soldiers?
"At around 10 last night — because I am always newsfucking for you Newsfuckers! "
Don't burn yourself out!
I question how this Christian Nationalist Defense Secretary will report to Afrikaner shadow president ?