I disagree. I subscribe to Matt, Walter, and Racket to hear what is going on in this country, not to hear the echo in the my brain. Real people believe this and we need to hear it to understand. Trump got elected because the Powers That Be dismissed what ordinary Americans were thinking-let’s not make the same mistake and seesaw us back to absurdity.
You’re right. We do need to hear this so we understand what we’re up against. It’s just really hard to read. My neighbor, who’s a very bright older woman, sent me an article by Elie Mystal. I was stunned that anyone with half a brain could take this racist seriously. She sent it to me in a panic because Trump is going to destroy America. It’s really sad. The weird thing though is that when she told me what she wanted, it was all conservative talking points. She doesn’t even realize that Trump is delivering on what she wants because she’s so hung up on what MSM and the Democrats are telling her she needs to be upset about. I had to stop talking to her about politics because she kept yelling at me. I’m trying to be calm and reasonable with people who are angry about Trump, and really just stick to the issues, but a lot of them really just want to take their anger out on any Trump supporter who still might have their Take America Back sign in the front yard. ;)
We're under zero obligation to indulge bad-tempered, badly-behaved children of any age. TDS has become a cop-out excuse for bullying, temper-tantrums, irrational rants, and infantile behavior.
I practice constructive disengagement and see no need to rescue people who choose to shit their pants in public. Nobody forced your pal to surrender to bigotry, guilt trips, and other manifestations of fragile egos.
She has her facts. You have yours. Free country, yes? For a while, anyway.
I have much the same experience with my progressive neighbors. I used to be one so I know what it feels like. I make a point of being calm and reasonable, but it's frightening how thoroughly they have been brainwashed. We must be wary of falling into the same blindered state.
I like your POV but you got this only partially right. The Powers that be selected Trump because he was better than what Democrats are offering. We do need to hear what the perpetually adolescent left has to say. Read this article and you will smile knowing they still condescend and they are still absolutely mentally ill.
I don't need to pay Matt for information I can find easily elsewhere. You get that don't you? Sirota's about as far from 'ordinary' Americans as anyone I can think of. Lefty wannabe highbrow proletarian poseur. Pure P.T. Barnum only boring.
When I read articles like this, even though they(he) tries to make sense of why the Democrats are floundering, he misses the point(s) so badly that I’m convinced that the left shall never rise again. With current leadership; old, often senile with solid self-interest and fattened wallets, with “rising stars” Bernie & AOC, with upcoming presidential wannabes Crockett & Waltz spouting crazy decisive rhetoric into every microphone they can find, and being on the wrong side of about every issue, there appears no path available for a Democrat president. Thankfully.
We already get this crap from the Democrat MSM, do we need it repeated here? Is the idea to provide content for a healthy debate or to better understand it's readers?
Starting to worry a little about Matt . . . Walter is OK, but who else is he hanging out with? It’s great to know and have discussions with people like this, but giving him a place at your podium makes me wonder if maybe Matt is slip-sliding away?
Placing TDS and interesting in the same sentence - is like reading "please let the beatings continue." A decade of this shit so far is actually far more than enough for me and has been since 2018.
Sirota et al give themselves a free pass for the open border, Ukraine, Gaza, de-industrialization, COVID closures etc, etc, etc.
I wouldn't dream of reading a word Sirota writes ever.
I am glad that I am not the only one surprised by the inclusion of Sirota on Racket News. Not that a perspective from the left should not be taken into consideration but this guy drags out every progressive left trope that supports the “authoritarian right “ narrative. I can read that in the Times
Dunno, we can debate the motive of choosing this article I suppose. But it sure let us see the adrift status of the Dems. Which may have been the point. Matt is a liberal, he just puts truth over politics.
Walter keeps setting Matt straight and then Matt goes off again, this nimrod Sirota needs to find a safe space with a kind animal maybe a dog, maybe a sheep, and he can lay on his side and suck his thumb and blame everyone but himself for mess we are in. After a while the questions needs to be asked, if Trumps and his efforts so bad, fine, but is your plan. $38 Trillion and counting and we may lose reserve currency status, now what Mr. Sirota? Hmm didn’t think so, no plan…
Trump’s own budget is also a huge debt burden, to say nothing of the absurd Pentagon handouts and tax cuts for the filthy rich… as usual. Republicans will out.
The problem isn’t the parties, the problem is who owns them: The rich. Did you think a *billionaire* would behave differently?
You're too sensitive. This is the crux of the biscuit:
"Liberals are offended by Trump’s lack of manners in pulling off extreme versions of what their own party icons have done, but many Americans seem to cherish the Joker-like quality of Trump’s antics. They seem to appreciate that — unlike establishment Democrats — Trump at least doesn’t use a dog whistle to trick anyone. He uses a bullhorn to proudly broadcast and brag about his malfeasance — all while offering a captivating and distracting culture war along the way."
Trump's positions, versus what we're told are Trump's positions, are supported by the vast majority of Americans - secure borders, safe streets, prosperity, liberty from tyrannical local, state, and federal governments and pride in the promise of the American dream.
I'm fine with Matt publishing David's editorials now and then. I like being reminded that the irrational rationalizing of the blob is still irrational.
I know Matt is liberal, but for god’s sake. This guy makes the writers at the NYT sound like members of the John Birch society. And, Matt bragged about him. I honestly feel sick.
I actually don’t mind David’s story here. Keep in mind David worked for the Sanders campaign and Taibi followed & wrote about the Sanders’s campaign for over 2 years. My guess is that they are friends. Matt should continue to have journalist write stories that are critical of the Trump administration even when there’s a bit of TDS involved IMHO. It’s good to make sure that Racket News doesn’t end up being an echo chamber & let’s face it, it’s nice to have someone to make fun of from time to time. David makes some outlandish comments and predictions always making certain that he spotlights those he pretends to represent in his stories as the true victims and always the virtuous. Highlighting the Bernie Sanders/AOC crowds as a new wave of Democrats that could threaten Trump is truly laugh out loud. Neither could last 10 minutes in the ring with him……he would simply crush them both. That said, Davids not wrong about everything even if it's cringe. Some of the shit that Trump has pulled in the first 4 months has been concerning and not in line with what most working Americans would want to see from him, but many voters are more than willing to give Trump a lot of latitude after they witnessed the hell he's been put through by the establishment over the past 10 years. I just hate it when an elitist like David with his half million Northwestern University education steps out and attempts to cosplay representing the every day working class. Just stick to representing Obama, Clinton & Sanders, David & come back and visit us in 9 months. We’ll gauge then you on how accurate you’ve been in your analysis.
Sirota was great on Air America as a frequent guest on the Al Franken Show which was broadcast 2004-2007. Before Sirota would be on Franken played "My Sirota", based on "My Sharona". Some of these interviews are in the Internet archives, but not easy to find.
Much as I like and respect you, I see no difference whatsoever between the integrity TM of Sirota of Tapper, et al. But hey, free passes for folks we once liked!
I agree it's ok to criticize Trump, though I don't see much "cringe." Some things don't play well like revoking visas, but you can't allow antisemitism. Trump needs to know who is coming in here and I do not trust Harvard or the rest of the Ivy league to decide.
He's done a lot more good by far than bad. The airplane is the only thing that made me cringe and I don't really trust much of the middle east. Don't like them supporting our universities. But otherwise, the rest is understandable and what we voted for. I'd rather hear Matt criticize Trump because he is not suffering from TDS. Some of the other "corruption" crap, like Bitcoin or his sons doing business can look bad. But you can't expect his family to stop developing and they were already doing that world wide. Trump is not using the office to enrich himself. So again, just that airplane and chumming up with some of the middle east are cringe for me.
It's the governments responsibility to vet and decide who is granted a visa of any kind. It is a privilege granted. If you have lied or misrepresented on that application.....OUT. If you are truly here to learn or contribute......IN. It will take some investigating. The airliner story has changed so many times, I am over it. Arab culture is based on honor, tribes, handshakes, etc. Qatar houses the largest air base for CENTCOM. Refusing the gift would have been a "slight"to Al Thani. Continued good relations with those Arab countries will further the Abraham Accords. Iran is watching and feeling further isolated.
And it's not like it's new either. Grant Jr lost a bunch of his dad's money with a sketch investment firm (Grant & Ward). I'm sure there are lots of other examples...
Bernie would crush Trump, anytime/any place. I say this as someone who was once a supporter of his who no longer cares what he says after betraying his principles for continued membership in the club. Same for AOC, although I would relish a debate between the two if it meant both committed to insulting the other.
This is all irrelevant anyway; Gaza is proving the human experience deserves its extinction.
I would have agreed with you up until a few months ago when both RFK Jr and Andrew Schulz both made Bernie look like a complete buffoon. I'll stand by my Trump statement when it comes to both.
To be fair, Bernie has been stuck defending the Democrat establishment's neocon policies, while leaving Trump with a lot of his (formerly) strongest issues.
You lose me when you talk about Gaza as a genocide. It’s a war that Hamas started. It’s Hamas’s charter that actually calls for genocide not Israel’s. They started a war and sacrificed their people for their sick agenda. Hard to fathom but the agenda is to get people like you and the international community to think of the Jews as the bad people
You wouldn’t know an agenda if it slapped you in the face.
The Jews aren’t the bad people; Zionists are. White people in America weren’t the ‘bad people’; supporters of slavery and segregation were. Get it?
Israeli extremists started the ‘war’ in 1948. The Hamas charter no longer calls for the end of Israel. You are, sadly, one of millions of Americans who have been propagandized by an American geopolitical narrative that pushes an Israeli lobbying narrative that Israel is indispensable to the security of the American empire.
Get out of the government narrative bubble and do some research.
The Gaza war is the geopolitical example of “Fuck around and find out”. Has anyone noticed that the West Bank has not been turned into RoboCop Detroit? I wonder why that is-the Palestinians living there aren’t any different from the Gazans…..
This may be, Michael - the most delusional, ass backwards comment on Substack this week - and that's saying something. Seems you're a willing victim of our media - which Malcolm X warned about:
MALCOLM X:
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
As for your ahistorical bs point re Gaza, all you demonstrate is your complete ignorance of the actual scale of human misery over time. You know absolutely fuck all about suffering.
I respectfully disagree. Don't forget the Dem establishment never liked Bernie and probably wouldn't have used their election machinery to help (i.e. rig) in a general election. In a fair election (if such a thing is still possible), moderate Trump beats far left Bernie every time. Although I will admit the two agreed on a lot of issues.
I had respect for you until ‘moderate Trump beats far left Bernie’.
There is nothing moderate about a narcissistic mob grifter, nor could Bernie’s politics, which would put him as a slightly left of center moderate in Europe, be anywhere close to far left.
You are right that the Democratic Party establishment wouldn’t lift a finger to help Bernie, but even with a media blackout, the few encounters, and back and forth exchanges on the campaign trail would have been enough for Bernie to kick Trump’s ass.
I'd say genocidal government actions of an apartheid settlement - since 1947- warrant THEIR OWN extinction. No need to put the rest of humanity in that category.
I was a Bernie supporter back in the day but his performance at the RFK Jr. confirmation hearing was pretty sad indeed. Despite American kids ranking the worst in the developed world on measures of health while we spend the most money on healthcare, he actually voted against RFK Jr., dancing for his Pharma donors. In fact, every single Democratic senator voted against confirming RFK Jr. I guess all of them are satisfied with the appalling state of childhood health in this country and approve of the fact that Biden reauthorized the use of the herbicide Paraquat—strongly linked to Parkinson’s Disease—which is banned in 68 other countries.
I totally agree with what you write. That said, I still think he would own Trump in any one-on-one contest; his authentic populism vs. Trump’s facade version would be readily apparent to anyone other than the most dyed in the wool McCarthyite red baiter.
Don’t disagree with that, but unfortunately for Sanders, Hillary was in the shadows. Once he folded to her and the DNC he turned into the cuck for the left that he is today.
I agree Evans but is it possible for ANY left wing writer (absent perhaps Taibbi himself, though I suspect he doesn't affiliate himself with any party these days) to write an article without the constant condescension of Trump... the criticism of his policies always bleeds into the personal attacks.... makes it hard for me to take the writer seriously..... (and nice seeing you over here by the way- finally jumped ship on TFP for some of the same reasons this article was annoying)..
Hey Kevin…..great to see you. I agree with you on that front but like to have a little ying with my yang so it doesn’t bother me to see the occasional TDS infected journalist. It just reminds me that I want nothing to do with them. Hope you are well my friend and see ya in the comments. Cheers. ~Evans
Matt inviting Sirota here is Matt's personal Tapper rehabilitation project. Not really a prick. Sure David lied his fucking ass off for the last eight years, but he's my friend, so subscribers can just suck on it!
To me, TDS smacks of made up, desperate lies. Why should I accept that as an acceptable criticism of anything to do with Trump? It’s irrational to be involved with nonsense, by anyone’s standard
Left-wing people lie constantly. It's who they are.
By definition, a "conservative" is not an aggressor. The Left spends extraordinary energy attacking "conservatives" for "fearing change", and then turns around and accuses "conservatives" of being the ones trying to change culture.
Well, they do outright lie about half the time. All because they are convinced if they lose power, they will lose their idea of "democracy," which of course is a huge government -- all control over the populace. Thought police, "racial equity" which is nothing more than discrimination, redistribution of wealth and more. They are dangerous people and late term abortion is barbarism and this trans crap is pure insanity. There is little to recommend them anymore. They used to provide a social balance. I was for gay marriage and reluctantly for very limited abortion for the health of the mother, but they offer next to nothing anymore.
I am not saying the church should be forced to marry them, civil services. But adults should live as they please. And they do not seem f - ing crazy like this trans people. My father was further right than I was and he'd rant and rave about liberals/democrats, but he'd look at me and say "but we need those people, too." We do need diverse ideas. But they have none anymore. And this guy's article was not very representative of critical thinking even. Republicans took over the economic issues the left once had, and they are left with nothing but crazy. But you ARE right that we did not see the extent of rot, especially in our universities. We left way too many spheres of influence in their hands and they have definitely not stopped.
As noted above I don't mind an article like this, it's interesting to see how the left portrays or sees what's happening but this is just simply dishonest. For a seasoned writer he needs some work on his critical thinking and truth seeking skills. Just more of the same: Orange man bad, cause, cause, cause......um, um, um.
It is so weird to confront D's (generally women) about the current madness of the Democrat party. So many will completely ignore all of the other stuff just to support abortion. Doesn't matter if all the things the D's are doing often impact women's safety, educational/athletic/employment opportunities, privacy, etc in a negative way, while at the same time coddling groups like Islamicists who would be just fine with doing away with those rights for women entirely, as long as the D's dangle that carrot (like they have since Roe met Wade) they will follow.
My crackpot theory is that they are so adamant about abortion because under the system that they have attempted to create, it's the only thing women have left that is solely female to claim any rights to.
I am ostensibly for allowing for the health of the mother- there's too many women who died in the last few years because they couldn't get the help they needed after miscarriage, fetal death, etc. But the current hysteria just seems to be a weird reversal of the old 'abortion as a sacrament' joke.
Yes, I feel like women are not practical (and I am one)--they are just not rational most of the time. But yes, they ignore way too much because they think Republicans are heartless. And abortion should be legal for about 10 weeks, no more, except for the health of the mother. And not her "mental health."
Fair point…if anything has suffered from the Democratic Party’s decision to dwell on the far left, it has been their historical promotion and defense policy of women’s rights. But this was shelved once they realized educated women were solidly in their camp. Next came the emphasis on advancing gay rights, then trans rights. Women’s rights are no longer a priority for Dems…it’s sad more women can’t/won’t admit it.
I would have a hard time accepting any of this guys arguments. That is a bias that I’ve got and would like to shelve it, somewhat. Maybe I’ll do more research on this guy… thanks
What I like about Matt (and Walter) is that while they are certainly not card-carrying members of the Trump fan club, they can hit both sides equally without the DRIPPING contempt writers like Sirota have for Trump. By all means present your argument(s) but why does every anti-Trump article have to contain 5-10 pot shots at Trump that have nothing to do with the article itself.. and Trump is the one promoting the oligarchy? GTFOH.. most absurd part of the entire article..... let's look at the political donations and then we can talk about which side of the aisle is more a part of the oligarchy.
So you platformed a fucking campaign speech for Bernie and AOC, Matt? Seriously? We’re here to read YOU, not this asshole. And if you align with his take please do let us know and explain why.
The only time I will ever refer to David Sirota is to state that I will end my support for Matt Taibbi journalism if I discover I will be actually providing charity to Matt's grift Bard and Bernie pals who can't win an audience on their own.
Wit, integrity, and incisive commentary is why we're here. Matt. Walter adds value. That's how you build out the site. Polemicists like Sirota have nothing to say to me.
There's an immense drop-off in the appeal of your non-Walter collaborators. We have too many quality writers and thinkers of the first rank elsewhere competing for our cash and our eyeballs. We're not here to help out your pals. Please don't expect us to do so.
Well, I mostly agree with you. I prefer to hear Matt's opinion or criticisms and if he does have guests, they should not be partisan hacks. There wasn't much to consider in that piece.
"Not much to consider" in a David Sirota piece. a: I didn't and would never read Sirota because Sirota is all wrapped up in his "I'm David Sirota" identity rather than factual analysis.
As bad or worse than Ezra Klein and David Brooks.
Maybe Matt can invite Matt and David to Racket to "add voices we never hear from TM"
True. This guy dished out the same leftist laundry list of the old, tired tripe that’s been around for years. Backing Trump is even bad for your pets! Lol! Bullshit
I tend to agree on the author’s identification of the problems. There is a growing oligarchy, and it’s bipartisan, or should I say NONPARTISAN. However, I sincerely doubt he and I would agree on the causes or solutions.
"The first step toward an answer is understanding what Trump represents. Sure, he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty."
------------
FYI, this is where I stopped reading. The article was bad before this, but this was the point I threw my hands up in disgust.
Frankly I'm wondering how on earth a Taibbi reader could even think that TRUMP embodies the rise of misinformation. Has he just not been paying attention to the 'experts' who have been lying directly to our faces for like a decade?
I sort of like Sirota, but that whole cabal of “we act like we’re the left — or maybe something actually different —but we’re really just angry, and even more self-righteous, Democratic Party #resistance shock troops”: Sirota, Grim, Krystal Ball and her mentally challenged husband Baby Kyle, and the like have really lost the plot. They really think the pile of spoiled pudding colloquially known as AOC is the future, and not the bitter dead end of the Happy Meal maze the rest of us saw 5 or so years ago. (This group, through their Justice Democrat branch, mostly did create the TikTok sensation/terrible politician AOC, so they’re never jumping off that sinking, burning ship of zombie flesh eaters.]
When Bernie did Andrew Schultz’s podcast recently, it reminded everyone that Bernie is a nice, normal guy with long-held convictions. He can wax poetic about baseball, and fit in inside the comedy pod world with aplomb. He can speak his mind, and even say plenty of things his hosts disagree with, without offending everyone. Drop David Sirota into that same situation, and it probably wouldn’t have gone well. He doesn’t know how communicate with normies outside his hive — illustrated by his utter lack of persuasion here at Racket — and probably would have come off a bit like a partisan, pompous jerk. Drop Kyle Kulinski in that same situation, and he’d have probably gotten his bleach-blonde ass kicked in minutes.
(I do like seeing different perspectives here, and I think they should continue. I’d love to see Matt interview Berne again.)
Trump -- the end of civility? Lord, the Democrats could hardly have become any more vile and uncivil than they have been. They all seemed to me like several brain circuits had been cut.
I must have just imagined being called an anti-science grandma killer for posting screenshots of official CDC webpages or vaccine trial data which proved the shots didn't stop you from getting the bug.
Must have hallucinated all the times the 'experts' said the unvaxxed need to be shamed and shunned for "keeping the pandemic going."
To this day I still cannot comment about vaccines on YT without it being censored. I’m stunned that this article was posted on Racket. We’re here for real news, not more leftist propaganda. We’ve gotten enough of that during Trump’s first presidency and the Covid/Biden era. If this is an attempt to provide “balanced new” then it’s an abject failure.
"Oligarchy": the next marketing scheme for the Democrats. That's all they propose: voter marketing schemes, buzzwords, sloganeering and "resistance" - in a word "messaging". Form over substance, and the voters now see right through it and are disgusted by it, yet the Dems refuse to change horses while the stream is drowning them! What made Trump popular is he's addressing problems that are RELEVANT to voters in a language to which they can relate! The Dems should try the same and save the $20 million (or give it to me!).
I find it quite peculiar how oligarchy ONLY became an issue after November 2024, when the Democrats' oligarchs got their clocks cleaned. And I can't wait to see how the issue magically vanishes when the Dems begin to regain power. Phony baloney!!
Let's get real: this oligarch "phenomenon" has been around virtually forever in many forms, and it will most likely continue for the foreseeable future (not that I approve). Money talks!!
Reminds me EXACTLY of the term "stakeholders", which Democrats loved for a few years until we realized what they mean by that is the government and the corporations/NGOs they collude with. (One might even call those "stakeholders" "the oligarchy", if one had consistent principles.)
It seems that the sentences you quoted ring true mostly, if not in whole.
Trump certainly embodies the rise of oligarchy. To my knowledge, he is the first billionaire that ran on being a billionaire and won (2015 election). This is not to stay he is the beginning of oligarchy, because he isn't. That began decades ago. Many would cite the construction of a political apparatus that lead to Citizens United as a more apt beginning to oligarchy for the US.
I disagree that Trump represents the end of civility. The end of civility is in effect the end of civilization. However, the point that is being made in the article is that the political landscape has effectively seen civility vanish as a winning strategy, which I think all of us would agree is the case. Gone are the days when a Dem and Rep would shake hands comfortably at the beginning of a presidential debate and engage in points having to do with actual policy. It certainly can be said if Trump that he made civility the first casualty on his campaign trail. He isn't alone in this, and again not all of the blame lies squarely on his shoulders.
With that being said, he certainly also represents the spread of misinformation. In the same style he did away with civility, he also made misinformation core to his political strategy; which also happens to be one of the main points of the article. Be it claims of cats and dogs being eaten by immigrants, elections being stolen, or that everything will just be hunkey-dorey with his administration, there can't be any cogent denial that Trump is a fountain of misinformation. Again, he is not the sole culprit, but he is certainly a culprit nonetheless.
I could go on with each of the points. But what I am attempting to rebut is the notion that this is some delusional TDS analysis. This is as cogent an analysis of the current political moment as you will find. You don't have to agree or align on every point, draw the same conclusions, or even do so in particular. However, there is a lot of truth in this article. It is carefully written from what I can tell, even if I too have points where I would disagree.
Trump's use of his wealth in his campaign messaging was not at all an expression of or advocacy for oligarchy, it was about 2 specific and important things: 1. exposing the fact that all the other wealthy candidates who attacked him for his wealth were exploiting the exact same advantages that he was, and in fact they were responsible for creating the laws that he was exploiting, so they had no justification in criticizing him for taking advantage of the system to create wealth. 2. His wealth meant he didn't have to risk being corrupted by campaign contributions like other candidates.
I mean, you are free to frame it that way, but even in the two points you are making here you tacitly acknowledge that he is just as complicit in “oligarchy” as anyone. He said as much himself on the campaign trail. You can call him honest in that moment, but I don't see how that in any way separates him from it.
I also don't really think that point two has any concrete founding. I am not sure why you would think that he would be, or is, less corruptible than any other official or candidate. How are you determining that?
So, does he “embody oligarchy”? What would an embodiment of oligarchy look like to you and how is Trump substantively different?
I don't deny that Trump or anyone in his position might be oligarchic or susceptible to the forces that affect people in his position. I just mean to say that it's not a criticism that uniquely applies to him and can therefore be used to disparage him relative to his competitors in the political arena. People who criticize Trump as "representing the oligarchy" try to pretend that all the other wealthy people on their team aren't exactly the same.
Matt, this guy’s a stealth apologist for the Dems. As a politically homeless former Democrat voter (never staunchly so), this crypto-neo-con really doesn’t deserve time on your channel. Your writing tends to keep things in the middle. But this guy’s whitewashing most of the crap that’s made me embarrassed I voted for Biden.
"he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty." I would sincerely like to understand how this description doesn't also apply to the Democratic party for the last couple decades.
The rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty were all the cause of Trump's populist appeal, not caused by them. Trump may not be an effective solution to these problems, and perhaps he's even exacerbated these problems, but it's dishonest to pretend that this is what he "represents." With advisers such as this, it's no wonder that Bernie imploded.
It's important to get out of one's echo chamber. The author represents a middle-left sector, someone skeptical of the half-century hollowing out of the USA's middle, dismayed by corporatism, and also looking askance at grift-y populism and who (I think) believes that government intervention can sorta fix some of society's ills.
There is (imo) no achievable glorious middle ground of incorruptible yet wise people working for the common interest, that grand ship arrived in the persons of George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson etc, then sailed away forever (Eisenhower too was a real one, a rare exception).
Since then, it's necessary for someone to state "Your heroes are wearing tights and underwear, and when the reality's house light flicker on your champions shrink down to 16 millimeters". Sirota is no knight or saint, but he is doing the job of poking at our pleasant illusions. Somebody gotta do that.
"It's important to get out of one's echo chamber."
I see this BS from literally every MSM outlet. These views are not a mystery to anybody who pays attention to politics at all -- indeed, they are the default opinions of the Swampdwellers.
"His crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aims to lure Democrats into caricaturing themselves as annoying HR consultants." LOL! Spit take!
Aims to lure!? How do you "lure" someone into being what they obviously, explicitly and proudly are!? The Dems are the Party and people of the HR Dept and the faculty lounge, the hall monitors who know what the rest of us should believe, think, do and who to vote for—and they will attack anyone who dissents from a single word of their dogma.
And the idea that you can pin this on Trump is hilarious and preposterous.
David Sirota is an unfrozen 90s liberal and once he shakes off his nap someone needs to break the news to him: liberal Dems aren't going to be the party of the "working class" anytime soon because they now base their identities on despising working-class people and no longer even try to hide their condescending arrogance.
You can either look down your noses at people and call them bigots and fascists or you can try to understand and support them, but you can't do both at the same time.
The Democrats aren't going to wake up. They share an intense aversion to reality, and long to sleep, perchance to dream about finally being in the right bodies.
"His crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aims to lure Democrats into caricaturing themselves as annoying HR consultants."
I spit out my tea at that. Because they ARE annoying HR consultants.
There really should be a retirement age or term limits for commentators aka "journalists". These sad creatures like Sirota end up writing the same column for decades and are so deeply sealed inside overlapping professional and personal bubbles that they have no clue that the world they grew up in is long since dead. But I guess it beats workin!
Take a longer view. Post 9/11 David Sirota was one of the few who analyzed it with clarity. Sirota, David. 2006. Hostile Takeover : How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back. 1st ed. New York: Crown Publishers.
7 years ago - I used to believe David Sirota. I was frequently in agreement with him. However, he has a fatal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome - which luckily I never contracted.
It's shocking to see someone not evolve one inch - over that time span.
I actually worked for the Sanders campaign - and, in an indirect way - the DNC ( opposition research on any and all the bullshit the DNC was trying to do in the '16 campaign) They stole 17 primaries against Bernie for Hillary- but my job was to read roughly 30,000 wikileaks - over the course of 6-8 months - every time the main speechwriter for Hillary wanted to put something out (suffice to say, I became fully red-pilled after he admitted - a four-time Senate aid - that he helped Al Gore steal the 2000 election< that is NOT typo. They stole 2.8 million votes in swing states, and got caught by the Bush team - that's why they conceded).
In any event - David Sirota seems to be STUCK IN AMBER - delusional, pretentious - holier than thou - and doesn't seem to have a grasp on reality - whether it be political or economic realities - or, even, a clear view of who Trump is. He is the pinnacle of delusional, in denial liberalism - on par with George Clooney.
That’s the most interesting thing I’ve seen about the Gore team being caught stealing votes. I have of course no proof only questions as to how 3 million more people voted in the 2020 election than in 2024
There’s a 4 time Democratic Senate aid who I worked with- who laid out how they stole votes - and the cover up ( he worked for Wellstone, Ted Kennedy, Liebermann, and Al Gore) The entire hierarchy of the DNC should have been in jail since 2000.
Democrat media figures like Sirota cannot wrap their mind around the fact that Americans thoroughly rejected everything they stand for. They try and cast the whole rotten party as innocent little lambs with the aw shucks demeanor of Tampon Timmy Walz. None of us have forgotten the utter malevolence from Covid to Trump lawmakers with which they governed.
You just don't want boys to play in girls' sports because of MISINFORMATION! If you were TRULY as educated as the left, you would UNDERSTAND that boys actually become girls if they wish hard enough.
LOL. Who'd 'a thunk we women get pregnant via penetration by a social construct? But I suppose the next installment is that pregnancy is merely a bodily irregularity manifesting itself in the mistaken idea that a living being might result. As easily correctible via dilation and curettage as mental disturbances are by . . . lobotomies . . .
Oh, wait . . . maybe . . . Nah. It's all in your mind. Everything is. Your job pays great, kids are a nuisance anyway, marriage is patriarchal oppression, your rent isn't as high as you think, there are as many good-paying blue collar jobs per capita as ever, tariffs are perfectly fine for other countries, just not us, universities are never guilty of racial, ideological or sex-related bias in any direction whose faculties are equally divided among those with progressive, conservative and independent leanings. Nor do they cost more than $50 per year to attend.
No transgender athletes has ever beaten one born to the opposite sex. No illegal immigrant has ever so much as jay walked.
See how easy it will all be if you just drink the Kool-Aid? It'll kill ya, but then you'll have nothing more to worry about, anyway.
There actually was a troll paper written by a team, one was a lady named Helen Pluckrose, the other were 2 men whose names I should remember, that was titled something along the lines of 'the penis as a social construct'. It got past a couple of peer reviews for journals before the true believers figured out that it was making fun of them.
I stopped reading at 'misinformation'. The author clearly doesn't understand why many voted for Trump. The Biden Administration wrote the book on LIES and disinformation. With Tapper's book out, I'm unsure where this author is coming from. I didn't bother to read past the first few paragraphs.
From the party that gave us Obama's "new normal" of slow growth and high unemployment?
That mind-boggling projection always makes me jump! Flat-out self-contradiction: the Democrats have been the party of constraint: no gas appliances, no gas cars, no domestic energy development (i.e., that isn't unrealistic solar or wind), etc.
Karen Bass's Twitter account was bragging just yesterday that a whopping 10 permits to rebuild have been issued, thanks to the selflessness and hard work of the city government to "cut through the red tape".
Anyone with the good sense that God gave geese would never think to tweet something so stupid, but here we are.
I saw the video bragging, showing literally one house being built surrounded by empty lots.
If I know anything about government, that dwelling belongs to "somebody important" and/or it's under construction specifically so Bass can point to it and say "We are working!"
I like you point out that word. 'Abundance' has all these dog-whistles to various prosperity gospels (christian, new age and others) and their true believers. It is a word chosen to convey a miraculous state where the universe (or government) brings you everything you deserve and desire. Prosperity implies/involves work, abundance, well that's just you deserve for breathing and putting your faith in the party.
While it caused cognitive dissonance for me, I didn't make the religious connection. I think you nail it.
It's not just "prosperity" -- which tacitly implies "work" and "productivity" -- "abundance" latently conveys the existence of a miraculous benefactor who provides a bounty so desired...and "deserved".
Yeah, you lost me at "Sure, he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty." The level of delusion is just way too high. You mean the billionaire oligarchs that keep voting Dem? You mean the liberals that have called everyone who doesn't agree with them Nazi for years? You mean all the covid vaccine disinformation that was spread by the Dems? You mean the corruption of the Biden Family, whose son sold access to dad for millions? You mean Biden's 50 years of leeching off the public tit and not working in the private sector (which carries a hell of a lot more "job experience" than any government job? Or do you mean the attempt to censor any opinions that don't tow the Democrat party line? Seriously, Matt, this article is a disgrace to what you have become.
The author's wife is an elected Colorado Democrat. "Emily Sirota represents House District 9 in the Colorado Legislature as a social worker and proud progressive Democrat with years of experience working in government and in the southeast Denver community."
And Colorado - which has a Democratic Supermajority - is the worst run state in the country - and yes, that includes CA and NY ( I grew up in NY, lived for 7 years in California -and own a business in Colorado)
I doubt that. Did you guys lose 14k homes and apartment buildings due to a fire that happens every year? Half the kids in Ca public schools can't do math at grade level or above and 65% of them can't read or write at grade level. In other words, the state is run by serial child abusers.
Lol, no he needs to invite Claudine Gay, the pride of Harvard's DEI program, to write about how chatgpt can be used to prepare for congressional testimony to explain bigotry and plagiarism.
Matt, I am surprised you offer space to a piece largely compiled of garbage nonsense. Racket News, and your readers, deserve better. Much better. Usually, we get it, but not this time.
The premise that is Donald Trump, a politician who has nearly always championed positions that are overwhelmingly popular with the American public, is the one who is "exacerbating cultural flashpoints" instead of the Professional Managerial Class dominated Democrats who have been looking to punish the CHUDs for failing to buy into exceedingly unpopular, luxury beliefs on things like transgender politics, immigration, etc. shows how deeply unserious this entire piece is.
That party is always the aggressor and always using Goebbels' tactic of accusing the other side of exactly what their doing. Sirota is actively pushing it.
I honestly couldn't make it through this odd, strident piece of garbage. It would be nice to read something tethered to reality--Trump is certainly not perfect, and in a perfect world, we would have a better president, but, for all his faults, I believe he is leading us in the right direction.
Rabid conservative base here. I'm thrilled to find that the Left is all about puppies and kittens and anti-authoritarians. And that you have a plan for me. But have you ever considered that freedom for most people is a fervent desire to be left alone to find my bliss? Since Americans are not having children, your desire to ship my non-existent kids to public creches leaves me cold. Your big, beautiful ObamaCare makes my doctor's visits unaffordable. And AOC and Bernie are the bookends of the Democrat Party: the shallow end of the intelligence pool and the superannuated Socialist whose life experience doesn't include any experience outside of politics. Once you outgrow your desire to run my life, consider getting a job as a plumber or carpenter and doing something useful.
Freedom, according to our moral and intellectual betters: abortion up to the last second or beyond, alphabet stuff with kids, government funding of left-wing institutions, open borders, not prosecuting favored groups, vigorous policing of "misinformation."
Not freedom: 1st and 2nd amendments, economic liberty, property rights, equality before the law, treating people as individuals, generally being left alone.
Trump has not stoked social conflict; the left has. This is all hogwash, almost all of it.
Leftist TDS is all projection. We subscribed for Matt, Walter, and Racket - please do not publish David again. He sounds just like the rest of the Trump Derangement Substack human centipede of slop: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/trump-derangement-substack-correspondents-dinner
I thought exactly the same thing. Oligarchy my ass. The Elites are 90%++ Democrats.
Especially if you follow the money. Harris spent 4.5 billion to Trump's 1.5 and Trump had WAY more small dollar donors.
Which, is why they lost.
I disagree. I subscribe to Matt, Walter, and Racket to hear what is going on in this country, not to hear the echo in the my brain. Real people believe this and we need to hear it to understand. Trump got elected because the Powers That Be dismissed what ordinary Americans were thinking-let’s not make the same mistake and seesaw us back to absurdity.
You’re right. We do need to hear this so we understand what we’re up against. It’s just really hard to read. My neighbor, who’s a very bright older woman, sent me an article by Elie Mystal. I was stunned that anyone with half a brain could take this racist seriously. She sent it to me in a panic because Trump is going to destroy America. It’s really sad. The weird thing though is that when she told me what she wanted, it was all conservative talking points. She doesn’t even realize that Trump is delivering on what she wants because she’s so hung up on what MSM and the Democrats are telling her she needs to be upset about. I had to stop talking to her about politics because she kept yelling at me. I’m trying to be calm and reasonable with people who are angry about Trump, and really just stick to the issues, but a lot of them really just want to take their anger out on any Trump supporter who still might have their Take America Back sign in the front yard. ;)
We're under zero obligation to indulge bad-tempered, badly-behaved children of any age. TDS has become a cop-out excuse for bullying, temper-tantrums, irrational rants, and infantile behavior.
I practice constructive disengagement and see no need to rescue people who choose to shit their pants in public. Nobody forced your pal to surrender to bigotry, guilt trips, and other manifestations of fragile egos.
She has her facts. You have yours. Free country, yes? For a while, anyway.
I have much the same experience with my progressive neighbors. I used to be one so I know what it feels like. I make a point of being calm and reasonable, but it's frightening how thoroughly they have been brainwashed. We must be wary of falling into the same blindered state.
I like your POV but you got this only partially right. The Powers that be selected Trump because he was better than what Democrats are offering. We do need to hear what the perpetually adolescent left has to say. Read this article and you will smile knowing they still condescend and they are still absolutely mentally ill.
Excellent point. It still pisses me off
I don't need to pay Matt for information I can find easily elsewhere. You get that don't you? Sirota's about as far from 'ordinary' Americans as anyone I can think of. Lefty wannabe highbrow proletarian poseur. Pure P.T. Barnum only boring.
This author has nothing but an echo in his brain.
When I read articles like this, even though they(he) tries to make sense of why the Democrats are floundering, he misses the point(s) so badly that I’m convinced that the left shall never rise again. With current leadership; old, often senile with solid self-interest and fattened wallets, with “rising stars” Bernie & AOC, with upcoming presidential wannabes Crockett & Waltz spouting crazy decisive rhetoric into every microphone they can find, and being on the wrong side of about every issue, there appears no path available for a Democrat president. Thankfully.
At what point were we “ back to absurdity?” Unless you mean the regime from the last four years…
We already get this crap from the Democrat MSM, do we need it repeated here? Is the idea to provide content for a healthy debate or to better understand it's readers?
Starting to worry a little about Matt . . . Walter is OK, but who else is he hanging out with? It’s great to know and have discussions with people like this, but giving him a place at your podium makes me wonder if maybe Matt is slip-sliding away?
Matt is fine.....letting the occasional TDS writer up on stage isn't the worst idea in the world. It keeps shit interesting.
Exactly. It's only once it gets to "Free Press" levels that I stop reading. We're light years from that.
Placing TDS and interesting in the same sentence - is like reading "please let the beatings continue." A decade of this shit so far is actually far more than enough for me and has been since 2018.
Sirota et al give themselves a free pass for the open border, Ukraine, Gaza, de-industrialization, COVID closures etc, etc, etc.
I wouldn't dream of reading a word Sirota writes ever.
I am glad that I am not the only one surprised by the inclusion of Sirota on Racket News. Not that a perspective from the left should not be taken into consideration but this guy drags out every progressive left trope that supports the “authoritarian right “ narrative. I can read that in the Times
Dunno, we can debate the motive of choosing this article I suppose. But it sure let us see the adrift status of the Dems. Which may have been the point. Matt is a liberal, he just puts truth over politics.
Walter keeps setting Matt straight and then Matt goes off again, this nimrod Sirota needs to find a safe space with a kind animal maybe a dog, maybe a sheep, and he can lay on his side and suck his thumb and blame everyone but himself for mess we are in. After a while the questions needs to be asked, if Trumps and his efforts so bad, fine, but is your plan. $38 Trillion and counting and we may lose reserve currency status, now what Mr. Sirota? Hmm didn’t think so, no plan…
Trump’s own budget is also a huge debt burden, to say nothing of the absurd Pentagon handouts and tax cuts for the filthy rich… as usual. Republicans will out.
The problem isn’t the parties, the problem is who owns them: The rich. Did you think a *billionaire* would behave differently?
He’s reacting to sharp criticism from some of his leftist used to be buds.
"makes me wonder if maybe Matt is slip-sliding away?"
Naw.
I applaud his willingness to not enclose his readers in a bubble prison. Also, have you not looked at the cartoonist that's under the Racket umbrella?
TDS? Did we read the same article? He criticized both sides pretty much the same amount
Even we grant this as true, the WAY in which he criticized them was not "pretty much the same". Trump is EVIL, whereas the Democrats are misguided.
You're too sensitive. This is the crux of the biscuit:
"Liberals are offended by Trump’s lack of manners in pulling off extreme versions of what their own party icons have done, but many Americans seem to cherish the Joker-like quality of Trump’s antics. They seem to appreciate that — unlike establishment Democrats — Trump at least doesn’t use a dog whistle to trick anyone. He uses a bullhorn to proudly broadcast and brag about his malfeasance — all while offering a captivating and distracting culture war along the way."
I read it more as Trump being lively, entertaining evil, while Dems are the boring, banal evil of Dolores Umbridge
It seemed to me he criticized the left for adopting Trump’s talking points and policies for their own!
Trump's positions, versus what we're told are Trump's positions, are supported by the vast majority of Americans - secure borders, safe streets, prosperity, liberty from tyrannical local, state, and federal governments and pride in the promise of the American dream.
Not much need for Dems whining in this equation.
He did criticize both sides, but his criticisms of Trump were absurd.
His analysis was horrible, and his so-called solution was a joke.
I'm fine with Matt publishing David's editorials now and then. I like being reminded that the irrational rationalizing of the blob is still irrational.
Sometimes Sirota hits on a good point. This is not one of them.
Stunning!!!!!
I know Matt is liberal, but for god’s sake. This guy makes the writers at the NYT sound like members of the John Birch society. And, Matt bragged about him. I honestly feel sick.
It's good for us to see this kind of stuff occasionally. And to think I used to be a progressive…
Human centipede of slop-that’s giving Taibbi a run for his rhetorical $$$🤣
Yes… DO THIS ^^^
I actually don’t mind David’s story here. Keep in mind David worked for the Sanders campaign and Taibi followed & wrote about the Sanders’s campaign for over 2 years. My guess is that they are friends. Matt should continue to have journalist write stories that are critical of the Trump administration even when there’s a bit of TDS involved IMHO. It’s good to make sure that Racket News doesn’t end up being an echo chamber & let’s face it, it’s nice to have someone to make fun of from time to time. David makes some outlandish comments and predictions always making certain that he spotlights those he pretends to represent in his stories as the true victims and always the virtuous. Highlighting the Bernie Sanders/AOC crowds as a new wave of Democrats that could threaten Trump is truly laugh out loud. Neither could last 10 minutes in the ring with him……he would simply crush them both. That said, Davids not wrong about everything even if it's cringe. Some of the shit that Trump has pulled in the first 4 months has been concerning and not in line with what most working Americans would want to see from him, but many voters are more than willing to give Trump a lot of latitude after they witnessed the hell he's been put through by the establishment over the past 10 years. I just hate it when an elitist like David with his half million Northwestern University education steps out and attempts to cosplay representing the every day working class. Just stick to representing Obama, Clinton & Sanders, David & come back and visit us in 9 months. We’ll gauge then you on how accurate you’ve been in your analysis.
Sirota was great on Air America as a frequent guest on the Al Franken Show which was broadcast 2004-2007. Before Sirota would be on Franken played "My Sirota", based on "My Sharona". Some of these interviews are in the Internet archives, but not easy to find.
I’ll take your word for it. So, suck buddies with Franken.. figures
I used to think Bill and Hillary were good people! Let's pretend time stands still. Toss accountability out the window for our pals!
Much as I like and respect you, I see no difference whatsoever between the integrity TM of Sirota of Tapper, et al. But hey, free passes for folks we once liked!
Sure you see no difference; you used to think the Clintons were good people.
Granted, but if he's gonna use Matt's column space, he should at least defend his article in the comments section!
Small testicle syndrome .
Maybe small, glittery testicles? (JK)
He knows he'd get smoked. Commenters here are smart, well-informed, articulate (mostly) and only too happy to engage in a debate.
Elites never defend themselves, they figure if you don’t agree with them you’re stupid.
I hope he's at least reading it, but then it's likely he'll dismiss it.
Matt often gets in pissing contests with his critics and I don't like to see that either.
I agree it's ok to criticize Trump, though I don't see much "cringe." Some things don't play well like revoking visas, but you can't allow antisemitism. Trump needs to know who is coming in here and I do not trust Harvard or the rest of the Ivy league to decide.
He's done a lot more good by far than bad. The airplane is the only thing that made me cringe and I don't really trust much of the middle east. Don't like them supporting our universities. But otherwise, the rest is understandable and what we voted for. I'd rather hear Matt criticize Trump because he is not suffering from TDS. Some of the other "corruption" crap, like Bitcoin or his sons doing business can look bad. But you can't expect his family to stop developing and they were already doing that world wide. Trump is not using the office to enrich himself. So again, just that airplane and chumming up with some of the middle east are cringe for me.
I agree with you. The cringe I was referencing was the level of TDS that David has. It just oozes off the page. Sorry, I should’ve been more specific.
Seems like anyone who doesn't strap on a pair of kneepads for Trump has "TDS" in your guys' book.
Your moral relativism is hilarious.
And just think about it......you're still going to be ok.
It's the governments responsibility to vet and decide who is granted a visa of any kind. It is a privilege granted. If you have lied or misrepresented on that application.....OUT. If you are truly here to learn or contribute......IN. It will take some investigating. The airliner story has changed so many times, I am over it. Arab culture is based on honor, tribes, handshakes, etc. Qatar houses the largest air base for CENTCOM. Refusing the gift would have been a "slight"to Al Thani. Continued good relations with those Arab countries will further the Abraham Accords. Iran is watching and feeling further isolated.
Interesting take on the plane. I worry a little about motives over there. But that is a good point. And the rest, you are totally correct.
If we’re being honest with one another, more than a few US Presidents’ immediate family members have checkered track records.
And it's not like it's new either. Grant Jr lost a bunch of his dad's money with a sketch investment firm (Grant & Ward). I'm sure there are lots of other examples...
Bernie would crush Trump, anytime/any place. I say this as someone who was once a supporter of his who no longer cares what he says after betraying his principles for continued membership in the club. Same for AOC, although I would relish a debate between the two if it meant both committed to insulting the other.
This is all irrelevant anyway; Gaza is proving the human experience deserves its extinction.
I would have agreed with you up until a few months ago when both RFK Jr and Andrew Schulz both made Bernie look like a complete buffoon. I'll stand by my Trump statement when it comes to both.
Indeed, now every time I see Bernie I think "onesie". He's a useless dork like the rest.
The hearing room is different from the debate stage. We’ll agree to disagree.
To be fair, Bernie has been stuck defending the Democrat establishment's neocon policies, while leaving Trump with a lot of his (formerly) strongest issues.
Tom
You lose me when you talk about Gaza as a genocide. It’s a war that Hamas started. It’s Hamas’s charter that actually calls for genocide not Israel’s. They started a war and sacrificed their people for their sick agenda. Hard to fathom but the agenda is to get people like you and the international community to think of the Jews as the bad people
Looking like they succeeded
You wouldn’t know an agenda if it slapped you in the face.
The Jews aren’t the bad people; Zionists are. White people in America weren’t the ‘bad people’; supporters of slavery and segregation were. Get it?
Israeli extremists started the ‘war’ in 1948. The Hamas charter no longer calls for the end of Israel. You are, sadly, one of millions of Americans who have been propagandized by an American geopolitical narrative that pushes an Israeli lobbying narrative that Israel is indispensable to the security of the American empire.
Get out of the government narrative bubble and do some research.
https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/a-short-guide-on-how-to-starve-a?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
The Gaza war is the geopolitical example of “Fuck around and find out”. Has anyone noticed that the West Bank has not been turned into RoboCop Detroit? I wonder why that is-the Palestinians living there aren’t any different from the Gazans…..
This may be, Michael - the most delusional, ass backwards comment on Substack this week - and that's saying something. Seems you're a willing victim of our media - which Malcolm X warned about:
MALCOLM X:
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
Gaza is of the least human rights issues on the world and trump would crush Bernie.
You are a fool.
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/its-a-complete-lie-to-say-gaza-can
Tom, I think you're High
Definitely. But not stupid enough to have Dershowitz on my Substack reading list.
Bullshit - Bernie has the spine of jelly fish.
As for your ahistorical bs point re Gaza, all you demonstrate is your complete ignorance of the actual scale of human misery over time. You know absolutely fuck all about suffering.
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-this-is-what-israel-does-then?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=164694063&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=eov1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
You know fuck all a bout Gaza, as well as history. As to suffering knowledge, your comments re. Gaza prove you’re bereft there as well.
As to spineless, name me a politician who isn’t.
I respectfully disagree. Don't forget the Dem establishment never liked Bernie and probably wouldn't have used their election machinery to help (i.e. rig) in a general election. In a fair election (if such a thing is still possible), moderate Trump beats far left Bernie every time. Although I will admit the two agreed on a lot of issues.
I had respect for you until ‘moderate Trump beats far left Bernie’.
There is nothing moderate about a narcissistic mob grifter, nor could Bernie’s politics, which would put him as a slightly left of center moderate in Europe, be anywhere close to far left.
You are right that the Democratic Party establishment wouldn’t lift a finger to help Bernie, but even with a media blackout, the few encounters, and back and forth exchanges on the campaign trail would have been enough for Bernie to kick Trump’s ass.
I'd say genocidal government actions of an apartheid settlement - since 1947- warrant THEIR OWN extinction. No need to put the rest of humanity in that category.
I was a Bernie supporter back in the day but his performance at the RFK Jr. confirmation hearing was pretty sad indeed. Despite American kids ranking the worst in the developed world on measures of health while we spend the most money on healthcare, he actually voted against RFK Jr., dancing for his Pharma donors. In fact, every single Democratic senator voted against confirming RFK Jr. I guess all of them are satisfied with the appalling state of childhood health in this country and approve of the fact that Biden reauthorized the use of the herbicide Paraquat—strongly linked to Parkinson’s Disease—which is banned in 68 other countries.
I totally agree with what you write. That said, I still think he would own Trump in any one-on-one contest; his authentic populism vs. Trump’s facade version would be readily apparent to anyone other than the most dyed in the wool McCarthyite red baiter.
Sanders would have handily beat Trump in 2016.
Don’t disagree with that, but unfortunately for Sanders, Hillary was in the shadows. Once he folded to her and the DNC he turned into the cuck for the left that he is today.
If that’s the case he wouldn’t have folded so quick
Nailed it - Bernie couldn't wait to bend over. Trump would have crushed him. Bernie's built nothing in his life but his rep and his bank account.
Matt still gets all weepy over "what could have been." Hilarious!
Wooda, coulda, shouda
I agree Evans but is it possible for ANY left wing writer (absent perhaps Taibbi himself, though I suspect he doesn't affiliate himself with any party these days) to write an article without the constant condescension of Trump... the criticism of his policies always bleeds into the personal attacks.... makes it hard for me to take the writer seriously..... (and nice seeing you over here by the way- finally jumped ship on TFP for some of the same reasons this article was annoying)..
Hey Kevin…..great to see you. I agree with you on that front but like to have a little ying with my yang so it doesn’t bother me to see the occasional TDS infected journalist. It just reminds me that I want nothing to do with them. Hope you are well my friend and see ya in the comments. Cheers. ~Evans
If you have been following Matt for any length of time you'd know they've been friends for a long time.
I have friends with wacky views as well. I just found it unreadable as it was not reality based.
Agreed,
Matt inviting Sirota here is Matt's personal Tapper rehabilitation project. Not really a prick. Sure David lied his fucking ass off for the last eight years, but he's my friend, so subscribers can just suck on it!
Message received - loud and clear!
To me, TDS smacks of made up, desperate lies. Why should I accept that as an acceptable criticism of anything to do with Trump? It’s irrational to be involved with nonsense, by anyone’s standard
Left-wing people lie constantly. It's who they are.
By definition, a "conservative" is not an aggressor. The Left spends extraordinary energy attacking "conservatives" for "fearing change", and then turns around and accuses "conservatives" of being the ones trying to change culture.
This is because the Left is dishonest.
Well, they do outright lie about half the time. All because they are convinced if they lose power, they will lose their idea of "democracy," which of course is a huge government -- all control over the populace. Thought police, "racial equity" which is nothing more than discrimination, redistribution of wealth and more. They are dangerous people and late term abortion is barbarism and this trans crap is pure insanity. There is little to recommend them anymore. They used to provide a social balance. I was for gay marriage and reluctantly for very limited abortion for the health of the mother, but they offer next to nothing anymore.
Gay marriage turned into a slippery slope. You can NEVER give in to the left because they NEVER stop
I am not saying the church should be forced to marry them, civil services. But adults should live as they please. And they do not seem f - ing crazy like this trans people. My father was further right than I was and he'd rant and rave about liberals/democrats, but he'd look at me and say "but we need those people, too." We do need diverse ideas. But they have none anymore. And this guy's article was not very representative of critical thinking even. Republicans took over the economic issues the left once had, and they are left with nothing but crazy. But you ARE right that we did not see the extent of rot, especially in our universities. We left way too many spheres of influence in their hands and they have definitely not stopped.
As noted above I don't mind an article like this, it's interesting to see how the left portrays or sees what's happening but this is just simply dishonest. For a seasoned writer he needs some work on his critical thinking and truth seeking skills. Just more of the same: Orange man bad, cause, cause, cause......um, um, um.
I’m actually disappointed in this article. This guy would prime material for “the View”
It is so weird to confront D's (generally women) about the current madness of the Democrat party. So many will completely ignore all of the other stuff just to support abortion. Doesn't matter if all the things the D's are doing often impact women's safety, educational/athletic/employment opportunities, privacy, etc in a negative way, while at the same time coddling groups like Islamicists who would be just fine with doing away with those rights for women entirely, as long as the D's dangle that carrot (like they have since Roe met Wade) they will follow.
My crackpot theory is that they are so adamant about abortion because under the system that they have attempted to create, it's the only thing women have left that is solely female to claim any rights to.
I am ostensibly for allowing for the health of the mother- there's too many women who died in the last few years because they couldn't get the help they needed after miscarriage, fetal death, etc. But the current hysteria just seems to be a weird reversal of the old 'abortion as a sacrament' joke.
Yes, I feel like women are not practical (and I am one)--they are just not rational most of the time. But yes, they ignore way too much because they think Republicans are heartless. And abortion should be legal for about 10 weeks, no more, except for the health of the mother. And not her "mental health."
Fair point…if anything has suffered from the Democratic Party’s decision to dwell on the far left, it has been their historical promotion and defense policy of women’s rights. But this was shelved once they realized educated women were solidly in their camp. Next came the emphasis on advancing gay rights, then trans rights. Women’s rights are no longer a priority for Dems…it’s sad more women can’t/won’t admit it.
They also have a criminal element. We suffer because most of us don’t think like criminals. The left does
and mentally ill.
David Sirota's 2006 book was essential reading post 9/11. It assessed that time with thoughtful detail.
Hostile Takeover : How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back. 1st ed. New York: Crown Publishers.
I would have a hard time accepting any of this guys arguments. That is a bias that I’ve got and would like to shelve it, somewhat. Maybe I’ll do more research on this guy… thanks
What I like about Matt (and Walter) is that while they are certainly not card-carrying members of the Trump fan club, they can hit both sides equally without the DRIPPING contempt writers like Sirota have for Trump. By all means present your argument(s) but why does every anti-Trump article have to contain 5-10 pot shots at Trump that have nothing to do with the article itself.. and Trump is the one promoting the oligarchy? GTFOH.. most absurd part of the entire article..... let's look at the political donations and then we can talk about which side of the aisle is more a part of the oligarchy.
Yeah, I agree.
Well put. It’s the condescending approach that gets me. Thanks
So you platformed a fucking campaign speech for Bernie and AOC, Matt? Seriously? We’re here to read YOU, not this asshole. And if you align with his take please do let us know and explain why.
The only time I will ever refer to David Sirota is to state that I will end my support for Matt Taibbi journalism if I discover I will be actually providing charity to Matt's grift Bard and Bernie pals who can't win an audience on their own.
Wit, integrity, and incisive commentary is why we're here. Matt. Walter adds value. That's how you build out the site. Polemicists like Sirota have nothing to say to me.
There's an immense drop-off in the appeal of your non-Walter collaborators. We have too many quality writers and thinkers of the first rank elsewhere competing for our cash and our eyeballs. We're not here to help out your pals. Please don't expect us to do so.
Well, I mostly agree with you. I prefer to hear Matt's opinion or criticisms and if he does have guests, they should not be partisan hacks. There wasn't much to consider in that piece.
"Not much to consider" in a David Sirota piece. a: I didn't and would never read Sirota because Sirota is all wrapped up in his "I'm David Sirota" identity rather than factual analysis.
As bad or worse than Ezra Klein and David Brooks.
Maybe Matt can invite Matt and David to Racket to "add voices we never hear from TM"
True. This guy dished out the same leftist laundry list of the old, tired tripe that’s been around for years. Backing Trump is even bad for your pets! Lol! Bullshit
Yeah, ridiculous. LOL
I tend to agree on the author’s identification of the problems. There is a growing oligarchy, and it’s bipartisan, or should I say NONPARTISAN. However, I sincerely doubt he and I would agree on the causes or solutions.
Hogwash take. If you don’t think the right is just as guilty as the left in said stokeage, you are delusional.
LOL And there you are again. You are the delusional one. So I'll stop there and not get into your ensuing insultas.
Glad to see you seek to avoid publicly embarrassing yourself; maybe hope for you yet.
False equivalency, I’m afraid
I’m delusional, you’re HIGH.
Well, duh.
Plus one. Makes you wonder if Matt read it.
Your black-or-whiteness should be in the DSM.
Hogwash is overly generous, I think.
quit all the dreaming and pay attention to what is actually going on in this country
And, I’ll bet you can fill us in on what’s going on…..
Right. I'd suggest you do that.
"The first step toward an answer is understanding what Trump represents. Sure, he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty."
------------
FYI, this is where I stopped reading. The article was bad before this, but this was the point I threw my hands up in disgust.
Frankly I'm wondering how on earth a Taibbi reader could even think that TRUMP embodies the rise of misinformation. Has he just not been paying attention to the 'experts' who have been lying directly to our faces for like a decade?
Yes, that did not ring true given the Weaponization Hearings.
Far more than a decade.
Agreed, but it really kicked up a notch in 2016.
"lying directly to our faces for like a decade"
I think you had a typo there, shouldn't there be an 's' after "decade"?
From the comments, it seems we don't. Thank God.
Word.
I sort of like Sirota, but that whole cabal of “we act like we’re the left — or maybe something actually different —but we’re really just angry, and even more self-righteous, Democratic Party #resistance shock troops”: Sirota, Grim, Krystal Ball and her mentally challenged husband Baby Kyle, and the like have really lost the plot. They really think the pile of spoiled pudding colloquially known as AOC is the future, and not the bitter dead end of the Happy Meal maze the rest of us saw 5 or so years ago. (This group, through their Justice Democrat branch, mostly did create the TikTok sensation/terrible politician AOC, so they’re never jumping off that sinking, burning ship of zombie flesh eaters.]
When Bernie did Andrew Schultz’s podcast recently, it reminded everyone that Bernie is a nice, normal guy with long-held convictions. He can wax poetic about baseball, and fit in inside the comedy pod world with aplomb. He can speak his mind, and even say plenty of things his hosts disagree with, without offending everyone. Drop David Sirota into that same situation, and it probably wouldn’t have gone well. He doesn’t know how communicate with normies outside his hive — illustrated by his utter lack of persuasion here at Racket — and probably would have come off a bit like a partisan, pompous jerk. Drop Kyle Kulinski in that same situation, and he’d have probably gotten his bleach-blonde ass kicked in minutes.
(I do like seeing different perspectives here, and I think they should continue. I’d love to see Matt interview Berne again.)
Trump -- the end of civility? Lord, the Democrats could hardly have become any more vile and uncivil than they have been. They all seemed to me like several brain circuits had been cut.
I must have just imagined being called an anti-science grandma killer for posting screenshots of official CDC webpages or vaccine trial data which proved the shots didn't stop you from getting the bug.
Must have hallucinated all the times the 'experts' said the unvaxxed need to be shamed and shunned for "keeping the pandemic going."
Silly me.
To this day I still cannot comment about vaccines on YT without it being censored. I’m stunned that this article was posted on Racket. We’re here for real news, not more leftist propaganda. We’ve gotten enough of that during Trump’s first presidency and the Covid/Biden era. If this is an attempt to provide “balanced new” then it’s an abject failure.
Nothing a little re-education and a lobotomy can't fix.
Skip the re-education; drill baby drill.
Welcome to Upside-down Land. Normalcy in the West has taken a time-out.
Same phenomenon, actually, as what happened to 60+ million Germans in the 1930s.
I no longer wonder "how it happened" to them. Now I'm more surprised it doesn't happen more often.
Leftists project. They always, only, ever project.
"Oligarchy": the next marketing scheme for the Democrats. That's all they propose: voter marketing schemes, buzzwords, sloganeering and "resistance" - in a word "messaging". Form over substance, and the voters now see right through it and are disgusted by it, yet the Dems refuse to change horses while the stream is drowning them! What made Trump popular is he's addressing problems that are RELEVANT to voters in a language to which they can relate! The Dems should try the same and save the $20 million (or give it to me!).
I find it quite peculiar how oligarchy ONLY became an issue after November 2024, when the Democrats' oligarchs got their clocks cleaned. And I can't wait to see how the issue magically vanishes when the Dems begin to regain power. Phony baloney!!
Let's get real: this oligarch "phenomenon" has been around virtually forever in many forms, and it will most likely continue for the foreseeable future (not that I approve). Money talks!!
Reminds me EXACTLY of the term "stakeholders", which Democrats loved for a few years until we realized what they mean by that is the government and the corporations/NGOs they collude with. (One might even call those "stakeholders" "the oligarchy", if one had consistent principles.)
i have watched many trump speeches, pressers etc i have never heard him swear of use the f word. unlike Dems
It seems that the sentences you quoted ring true mostly, if not in whole.
Trump certainly embodies the rise of oligarchy. To my knowledge, he is the first billionaire that ran on being a billionaire and won (2015 election). This is not to stay he is the beginning of oligarchy, because he isn't. That began decades ago. Many would cite the construction of a political apparatus that lead to Citizens United as a more apt beginning to oligarchy for the US.
I disagree that Trump represents the end of civility. The end of civility is in effect the end of civilization. However, the point that is being made in the article is that the political landscape has effectively seen civility vanish as a winning strategy, which I think all of us would agree is the case. Gone are the days when a Dem and Rep would shake hands comfortably at the beginning of a presidential debate and engage in points having to do with actual policy. It certainly can be said if Trump that he made civility the first casualty on his campaign trail. He isn't alone in this, and again not all of the blame lies squarely on his shoulders.
With that being said, he certainly also represents the spread of misinformation. In the same style he did away with civility, he also made misinformation core to his political strategy; which also happens to be one of the main points of the article. Be it claims of cats and dogs being eaten by immigrants, elections being stolen, or that everything will just be hunkey-dorey with his administration, there can't be any cogent denial that Trump is a fountain of misinformation. Again, he is not the sole culprit, but he is certainly a culprit nonetheless.
I could go on with each of the points. But what I am attempting to rebut is the notion that this is some delusional TDS analysis. This is as cogent an analysis of the current political moment as you will find. You don't have to agree or align on every point, draw the same conclusions, or even do so in particular. However, there is a lot of truth in this article. It is carefully written from what I can tell, even if I too have points where I would disagree.
Trump's use of his wealth in his campaign messaging was not at all an expression of or advocacy for oligarchy, it was about 2 specific and important things: 1. exposing the fact that all the other wealthy candidates who attacked him for his wealth were exploiting the exact same advantages that he was, and in fact they were responsible for creating the laws that he was exploiting, so they had no justification in criticizing him for taking advantage of the system to create wealth. 2. His wealth meant he didn't have to risk being corrupted by campaign contributions like other candidates.
I mean, you are free to frame it that way, but even in the two points you are making here you tacitly acknowledge that he is just as complicit in “oligarchy” as anyone. He said as much himself on the campaign trail. You can call him honest in that moment, but I don't see how that in any way separates him from it.
I also don't really think that point two has any concrete founding. I am not sure why you would think that he would be, or is, less corruptible than any other official or candidate. How are you determining that?
So, does he “embody oligarchy”? What would an embodiment of oligarchy look like to you and how is Trump substantively different?
I don't deny that Trump or anyone in his position might be oligarchic or susceptible to the forces that affect people in his position. I just mean to say that it's not a criticism that uniquely applies to him and can therefore be used to disparage him relative to his competitors in the political arena. People who criticize Trump as "representing the oligarchy" try to pretend that all the other wealthy people on their team aren't exactly the same.
likewise, i immediately scrolled down to the comments at that line because i was like "what?"
Matt, this guy’s a stealth apologist for the Dems. As a politically homeless former Democrat voter (never staunchly so), this crypto-neo-con really doesn’t deserve time on your channel. Your writing tends to keep things in the middle. But this guy’s whitewashing most of the crap that’s made me embarrassed I voted for Biden.
Totally agree. Just a smorgasbord of opinion/bullshit!
"he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty." I would sincerely like to understand how this description doesn't also apply to the Democratic party for the last couple decades.
Yeah, me too. Immediately tuned out on this paragraph. Some Democrat operative shit, not a well-thought out unbiased take.
That's where I stopped reading-because-it's-good-for-me, and started skimming. You can only take so much.
The rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty were all the cause of Trump's populist appeal, not caused by them. Trump may not be an effective solution to these problems, and perhaps he's even exacerbated these problems, but it's dishonest to pretend that this is what he "represents." With advisers such as this, it's no wonder that Bernie imploded.
It's important to get out of one's echo chamber. The author represents a middle-left sector, someone skeptical of the half-century hollowing out of the USA's middle, dismayed by corporatism, and also looking askance at grift-y populism and who (I think) believes that government intervention can sorta fix some of society's ills.
There is (imo) no achievable glorious middle ground of incorruptible yet wise people working for the common interest, that grand ship arrived in the persons of George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson etc, then sailed away forever (Eisenhower too was a real one, a rare exception).
Since then, it's necessary for someone to state "Your heroes are wearing tights and underwear, and when the reality's house light flicker on your champions shrink down to 16 millimeters". Sirota is no knight or saint, but he is doing the job of poking at our pleasant illusions. Somebody gotta do that.
"It's important to get out of one's echo chamber."
I see this BS from literally every MSM outlet. These views are not a mystery to anybody who pays attention to politics at all -- indeed, they are the default opinions of the Swampdwellers.
"His crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aims to lure Democrats into caricaturing themselves as annoying HR consultants." LOL! Spit take!
Aims to lure!? How do you "lure" someone into being what they obviously, explicitly and proudly are!? The Dems are the Party and people of the HR Dept and the faculty lounge, the hall monitors who know what the rest of us should believe, think, do and who to vote for—and they will attack anyone who dissents from a single word of their dogma.
And the idea that you can pin this on Trump is hilarious and preposterous.
David Sirota is an unfrozen 90s liberal and once he shakes off his nap someone needs to break the news to him: liberal Dems aren't going to be the party of the "working class" anytime soon because they now base their identities on despising working-class people and no longer even try to hide their condescending arrogance.
You can either look down your noses at people and call them bigots and fascists or you can try to understand and support them, but you can't do both at the same time.
Wake up, Dave!
Don't you remember Donald Trump holding Joe Biden hostage and forcing him to choose a woman of color for his VP? That was so dastardly.
LOL!
LOL!! Excellent post, per usual, CP!
The Democrats aren't going to wake up. They share an intense aversion to reality, and long to sleep, perchance to dream about finally being in the right bodies.
lol thx
how do you wake up from an ideological lobotomy? might take an entire generation.
A generation at least! The Russians took two generations, only to slide immediately backward into a rebranded version of the same slime pit.
"His crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aims to lure Democrats into caricaturing themselves as annoying HR consultants."
I spit out my tea at that. Because they ARE annoying HR consultants.
There really should be a retirement age or term limits for commentators aka "journalists". These sad creatures like Sirota end up writing the same column for decades and are so deeply sealed inside overlapping professional and personal bubbles that they have no clue that the world they grew up in is long since dead. But I guess it beats workin!
JEEZ - WHEN THE HELL DID I SIGN UP FOR MSNBC???
What a load of bullsquat. NEVER, Matt - never again let this dipstick send out a piece like this under your byline. Never.
Take a longer view. Post 9/11 David Sirota was one of the few who analyzed it with clarity. Sirota, David. 2006. Hostile Takeover : How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back. 1st ed. New York: Crown Publishers.
2006 is a long time ago…
Hey, my day job is teaching the history of libraries going back to clay tablets. This was yesterday to me.
I know the feeling. I can remember when dinosaurs roamed the earth!
Should have seen that coming(MSNBC propaganda) Matt couldn't walk away from Maddow, in some its an addiction, in others a way of life.
7 years ago - I used to believe David Sirota. I was frequently in agreement with him. However, he has a fatal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome - which luckily I never contracted.
It's shocking to see someone not evolve one inch - over that time span.
I actually worked for the Sanders campaign - and, in an indirect way - the DNC ( opposition research on any and all the bullshit the DNC was trying to do in the '16 campaign) They stole 17 primaries against Bernie for Hillary- but my job was to read roughly 30,000 wikileaks - over the course of 6-8 months - every time the main speechwriter for Hillary wanted to put something out (suffice to say, I became fully red-pilled after he admitted - a four-time Senate aid - that he helped Al Gore steal the 2000 election< that is NOT typo. They stole 2.8 million votes in swing states, and got caught by the Bush team - that's why they conceded).
In any event - David Sirota seems to be STUCK IN AMBER - delusional, pretentious - holier than thou - and doesn't seem to have a grasp on reality - whether it be political or economic realities - or, even, a clear view of who Trump is. He is the pinnacle of delusional, in denial liberalism - on par with George Clooney.
Remarkable how TDS has rotted brains once fairly serviceable. Also worth noting for it's near-homophone relationship with 'tedious.'
That’s the most interesting thing I’ve seen about the Gore team being caught stealing votes. I have of course no proof only questions as to how 3 million more people voted in the 2020 election than in 2024
There’s a 4 time Democratic Senate aid who I worked with- who laid out how they stole votes - and the cover up ( he worked for Wellstone, Ted Kennedy, Liebermann, and Al Gore) The entire hierarchy of the DNC should have been in jail since 2000.
What you just described is also called a "Democrat."
Democrat media figures like Sirota cannot wrap their mind around the fact that Americans thoroughly rejected everything they stand for. They try and cast the whole rotten party as innocent little lambs with the aw shucks demeanor of Tampon Timmy Walz. None of us have forgotten the utter malevolence from Covid to Trump lawmakers with which they governed.
You just don't want boys to play in girls' sports because of MISINFORMATION! If you were TRULY as educated as the left, you would UNDERSTAND that boys actually become girls if they wish hard enough.
Well of course, everyone who has read Foucault knows that penises are just a social construct.
LOL. Who'd 'a thunk we women get pregnant via penetration by a social construct? But I suppose the next installment is that pregnancy is merely a bodily irregularity manifesting itself in the mistaken idea that a living being might result. As easily correctible via dilation and curettage as mental disturbances are by . . . lobotomies . . .
Oh, wait . . . maybe . . . Nah. It's all in your mind. Everything is. Your job pays great, kids are a nuisance anyway, marriage is patriarchal oppression, your rent isn't as high as you think, there are as many good-paying blue collar jobs per capita as ever, tariffs are perfectly fine for other countries, just not us, universities are never guilty of racial, ideological or sex-related bias in any direction whose faculties are equally divided among those with progressive, conservative and independent leanings. Nor do they cost more than $50 per year to attend.
No transgender athletes has ever beaten one born to the opposite sex. No illegal immigrant has ever so much as jay walked.
See how easy it will all be if you just drink the Kool-Aid? It'll kill ya, but then you'll have nothing more to worry about, anyway.
There actually was a troll paper written by a team, one was a lady named Helen Pluckrose, the other were 2 men whose names I should remember, that was titled something along the lines of 'the penis as a social construct'. It got past a couple of peer reviews for journals before the true believers figured out that it was making fun of them.
It's especially baffling to me because these people will tell you over and over that 'nobody's doing surgery on trans kids'.
If that's true, how is that "trans girl" different than a boy pretending to be a girl?
"SHUT UP YOU BIGOT"
I could have read this in the NYT. I had to double check to make sure it was from Racket. That is not a compliment.
I stopped reading at 'misinformation'. The author clearly doesn't understand why many voted for Trump. The Biden Administration wrote the book on LIES and disinformation. With Tapper's book out, I'm unsure where this author is coming from. I didn't bother to read past the first few paragraphs.
Yes...the democrats have a mental block against the reason why reasonable people are walking away...or being driven away by unreasonable people.
I read the first paragraph and punted. Maybe I'll listen to it if it comes out on audio.
As Lekimball notes, Trump didn't inflame matters, he's the reaction to it.
And Trump is the party of oligarchs?
That would be funny if it were not so obviously incorrect. Incorrect to the point of idiotic delusion.
Matt, for you, a sports (specifically baseball!) analogy: this article was a big swing-and-a-miss.
Oh, and "abundance"?!?
From the party that gave us Obama's "new normal" of slow growth and high unemployment?
That mind-boggling projection always makes me jump! Flat-out self-contradiction: the Democrats have been the party of constraint: no gas appliances, no gas cars, no domestic energy development (i.e., that isn't unrealistic solar or wind), etc.
Abundance, my posterior! :-)
Yeah just look at the breakneck speed of rebuilding after the Palisades fire.
Karen Bass's Twitter account was bragging just yesterday that a whopping 10 permits to rebuild have been issued, thanks to the selflessness and hard work of the city government to "cut through the red tape".
Anyone with the good sense that God gave geese would never think to tweet something so stupid, but here we are.
I saw the video bragging, showing literally one house being built surrounded by empty lots.
If I know anything about government, that dwelling belongs to "somebody important" and/or it's under construction specifically so Bass can point to it and say "We are working!"
I like you point out that word. 'Abundance' has all these dog-whistles to various prosperity gospels (christian, new age and others) and their true believers. It is a word chosen to convey a miraculous state where the universe (or government) brings you everything you deserve and desire. Prosperity implies/involves work, abundance, well that's just you deserve for breathing and putting your faith in the party.
And they say the left isn't a cult.
Excellent point.
While it caused cognitive dissonance for me, I didn't make the religious connection. I think you nail it.
It's not just "prosperity" -- which tacitly implies "work" and "productivity" -- "abundance" latently conveys the existence of a miraculous benefactor who provides a bounty so desired...and "deserved".
Yeah, you lost me at "Sure, he embodies the rise of oligarchy, the end of civility, the spread of misinformation, the normalization of corruption, the electoral irrelevance of job experience, and the embrace of pathological dishonesty." The level of delusion is just way too high. You mean the billionaire oligarchs that keep voting Dem? You mean the liberals that have called everyone who doesn't agree with them Nazi for years? You mean all the covid vaccine disinformation that was spread by the Dems? You mean the corruption of the Biden Family, whose son sold access to dad for millions? You mean Biden's 50 years of leeching off the public tit and not working in the private sector (which carries a hell of a lot more "job experience" than any government job? Or do you mean the attempt to censor any opinions that don't tow the Democrat party line? Seriously, Matt, this article is a disgrace to what you have become.
Right?!? It's not the heat....it's the hypocrisy.
The author's wife is an elected Colorado Democrat. "Emily Sirota represents House District 9 in the Colorado Legislature as a social worker and proud progressive Democrat with years of experience working in government and in the southeast Denver community."
https://www.emilyforcolorado.com/
And Colorado - which has a Democratic Supermajority - is the worst run state in the country - and yes, that includes CA and NY ( I grew up in NY, lived for 7 years in California -and own a business in Colorado)
I doubt that. Did you guys lose 14k homes and apartment buildings due to a fire that happens every year? Half the kids in Ca public schools can't do math at grade level or above and 65% of them can't read or write at grade level. In other words, the state is run by serial child abusers.
I've lived in all three places. While CA is a fucking cesspool, CO is on a fast track to surpass CA.
Might be the most depressing thing I've read ... And I read the entirety of David's article. That's terrible to hear about co.
I dunno. WA state lately is all like, "Dude, hold my beer..."
Maybe next week Matt can invite Robert Kagan to pen a piece on the need to support Ukraine? lol
Lol, no he needs to invite Claudine Gay, the pride of Harvard's DEI program, to write about how chatgpt can be used to prepare for congressional testimony to explain bigotry and plagiarism.
Ah yes. Colorado. Where men are men…..and men are women. :)
LOL! These people don't know enough to keep their profiles private.
Matt, I am surprised you offer space to a piece largely compiled of garbage nonsense. Racket News, and your readers, deserve better. Much better. Usually, we get it, but not this time.
Maybe it is useful to remind us that Matt offers better reasoned arguments we can trust.
That was the reason I noted it.
The premise that is Donald Trump, a politician who has nearly always championed positions that are overwhelmingly popular with the American public, is the one who is "exacerbating cultural flashpoints" instead of the Professional Managerial Class dominated Democrats who have been looking to punish the CHUDs for failing to buy into exceedingly unpopular, luxury beliefs on things like transgender politics, immigration, etc. shows how deeply unserious this entire piece is.
That party is always the aggressor and always using Goebbels' tactic of accusing the other side of exactly what their doing. Sirota is actively pushing it.
I think in the 60's there was an old Blues hit by Bobby Bland..."Turn on your gaslight, let it shine on me. Let it shine, let it shine let it shine."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdN_CiCNS4
Criticizing men in women's sports is "the end of civility".
Deporting murderers and rapist is "the end of civility".
Working to bring peace to the Middle East is "the end of civility".
Is this a textbook example of TDS?
I honestly couldn't make it through this odd, strident piece of garbage. It would be nice to read something tethered to reality--Trump is certainly not perfect, and in a perfect world, we would have a better president, but, for all his faults, I believe he is leading us in the right direction.
Rabid conservative base here. I'm thrilled to find that the Left is all about puppies and kittens and anti-authoritarians. And that you have a plan for me. But have you ever considered that freedom for most people is a fervent desire to be left alone to find my bliss? Since Americans are not having children, your desire to ship my non-existent kids to public creches leaves me cold. Your big, beautiful ObamaCare makes my doctor's visits unaffordable. And AOC and Bernie are the bookends of the Democrat Party: the shallow end of the intelligence pool and the superannuated Socialist whose life experience doesn't include any experience outside of politics. Once you outgrow your desire to run my life, consider getting a job as a plumber or carpenter and doing something useful.
Freedom, according to our moral and intellectual betters: abortion up to the last second or beyond, alphabet stuff with kids, government funding of left-wing institutions, open borders, not prosecuting favored groups, vigorous policing of "misinformation."
Not freedom: 1st and 2nd amendments, economic liberty, property rights, equality before the law, treating people as individuals, generally being left alone.