I am thankful for the work Matt and Walter put into their reporting, and for the opportunity it has given me to "meet" so many intelligent, well wishing people on the Comments board. You are my go-to whenever something breaks in the news. This is the only board where I find honest reactions, backed up with facts ...and much needed humor at times. Sail on!
No a capella song can ever be forgiven for knocking Sweet Child o Mine from the #1 slot. Defense of a particularly saccharine a capella song is indefensible.
Citing that hype man and buffoon Flavor was a commercial buffoon later so a Chuck D lyric is undermined is as nonsensical as writing off a Shakespearean couplet that carries a serious message by citing a Falstaff phrase as from the same writer.
Saying that the Chuck D lyric is "unfair" to McFerrin for Chuck simply rejecting the feel good sensibility personally means either some holiday rest or a good editor is needed.
Does anybody actually like politics except for those who make money from it? I don't like it, but i still have to pay attention to it. The years that i didn't we had Clinton and the Bushes.
"Politics" is the question of who gets what, and it's a very interesting and important topic for everyone. The entire scheme to deceive people into thinking "politics" means donkeys vs elephants, who coincidentally completely agree across the board about who gets what and who does not, is transparent and asinine but it still works on just about everyone for some reason.
I find it something it behooves me to know as a citizen and a voter. That doesn't mean I find it interesting, there are many, many other things I find a lot more interesting. As for donkeys and elephants, I'm a Bernie lefty, Independent, and double hater, I vote for neither top of the ticket.
Just so you know... I was Bernie Bro from about 1982 (mayor of Burlington) to 2016... But yeah, that's how socialism works, the higher ups live well and the rest of us are left "building socialism" with empty grocery shelves and ration cards...
Ah, so you’re the one we have to thank for those guys! I’ve been wondering all these years who to blame…
Seriously, if you’re proceeding from the premise that people who make money off politics are somehow successful as a result of the unpopularity of politics, think again. Consider the immense success of political talk shows on television, including those hosted by ostensible comedians. Consider the proliferation of channels and websites online—YouTube in particular—geared not only to political discussions and analyses, but also specializing in footage of political insults, cheap shots and jabs. Consider next the possibility that politics has become a weird, rather brutal form of entertainment. And in that regard, the same psychology that makes professional wrestling popular would make a rewarding indulgence out of politics, only on a vaster scale.
I mentioned religion, because I think much of its psychology has found a new life in politics. In the West, arguably, religion has declined since the days of Darwin. But, likewise arguably, the basic aspects of religious language and incentive have been shifted to the secular realm—especially the more censorious inclinations of religion. All of the fun and collective joy of sniffing out witches, burning heretics and ruining neighbors who might not “think the right way” are still very much alive and well in our culture.
So in answer to your question, I would say that there are relatively few people in our society—you and I alone, perhaps—who genuinely dislike politics. But there is a significant number who absolutely love it.
I actually agree with you about the religion part. I think the Dems at least traded religion for party. I also think that it's not the politics per se that people love, it's s just a vehicle for having a team to cheer for virtue signaling their own superiority.
I'm with you there, for sure. It could be similar to cinema, in the proposition that a film's success has less to do with its content or tenor, and more to do with the wide collective habit, simply, of consuming motion pictures. I would add to it that politics, like religions and movies, might offer a certain illusion of drama, purpose and meaning in the face of a universe profoundly indifferent.
It is what happens when a hunter-gatherer brain is subsumed by the protections of technology. Those survival circuits demand input.
The 'feminization' of culture, for better or worse, began a long, long time ago.
Technology has become the driver of evolution and vastly outpaces the ability of genetics to adapt, except perhaps in life forms that reproduce fast enough to do so. And we have been stupid enough to create technology that vastly increases their ability to attack us. But it is extraordinarily profitable--in the capitalist sense, anyway.
Sorry. Don't worry, be happy. Today, anyway, at least...to be alive at such a time is truly a blessing for those of us who can afford this indulgence ;-)
“Become”? It’s ALWAYS been entertainment, at least since the invention of the printing press. “Hey look over here! ( surreptitious hand in your pocket )”.
Gratitude today for our colonialist oppressor ancestors who committed genocide on the innocent turkey population. 🦃 Yum! Plus, live dangerously and cook the stuffing inside the turkey because it tastes so much better.
I heard my first land acknowledgement, in Canada, from the pews of a beautiful Anglican Church about 15 years ago.
Being the sort that I am....I had to hold myself back from embarrassing the family by standing up and saying to the Pastor uttering this silliness...."So give it all back, then! This urban-parish land must be worth a small fortune. Hand over your deed tomorrow to whatever tribe claims the acreage. Buildings included. Since this issue means so much to you. Put your money where your mouth is."
Wish now that I had....would have gone down in parish lore.
Cheers, I go to bed and wake up with a gratitude list. As a result, I sleep well and tend not to take the world and myself, too seriously. Why not give thanks every day twice a day? Works for me and countless others! Don't need to wait for the turkey and pumpkin pie!
I use affirmations daily to change my negative thought to a positive. Best thing I did this year was hike The Camino in northern Spain. Days of peace..no TV, social media or politics. Just happy people peacefully walking amongst the trees. I actually grieved when I got home. Happy thanksgiving everyone.
Hmm. Thanks for the reply and happy thanksgiving. Grieving because we're among people isn't the result I'm seeking.
The going to bed and getting up giving thanks concept isnt my idea. Folks more consistently happy had to explain the benefits to me. I finally followed their suggestions and I discovered they were right. Another bright idea is: it's never too late to have a good day.
Placing the needs of others first is also a great path to improving a day. I've done the opposite plenty. No comparison if what we're after is consistently positive emotional outcomes. Give thanks before bed. I heard early on from one practitioner that if you can't think of anything to be grateful for: be grateful you're not on fire.
Sounds a bit extreme, but if you're watching the news right now, à propos. We could all use a prayer of hope and good will on a more than daily basis.
I was grieving because I was surrounded by 1000’s of happy content people in Spain only to come home and plopped back into not that. But ok. It was a nice break
My family and I have to find more workable, reliable, and affordable solutions. Folks a lot smarter than me have observed if we and those close to us have our health and each other, we have everything.
I do gratitude practices to overcome and even find peace in extremely trying circumstances. Check out Bookwench's comment. She's 100 percent right in my experience. Once we make lists of our blessings the foundation of a day it's pretty hard to stay gloomy. Best of luck with the affirmations.
So right. True recent events. I've a couple of friends fighting cancer and other serious conditions right now, each grateful - why? Coz, they've built good lives, and most important it's them getting the MRIs and chemo and not their spouses, or kids.
I've recently seen children in parts of hospitals where no kid belongs, puts everything in perspective.
I completely agree Paul! Gratitude is my first thought when I wake up. I’ve made gratitude and thankfulness a daily practice, and I’ve never been happier in my life.
A big Happy Thanksgiving to you, Matt! May you enjoy a well-deserved break from thinking about this chaotic world. Enjoy your time with family. ♥️
my first thought was, which 3 games? Uno? Cribbage? Scrabble? Then I realized, oh yeah, FOOTBALL. So grateful for Matt Taibbi, Racket News and America this Week. And as an incurable optimist and mostly happy person, thank you for speaking to the demonization of happiness even though you are a good old cynical reporter.
'And as an incurable optimist and mostly happy person, thank you for speaking to the demonization of happiness even though you are a good old cynical reporter.'
Echoing so many other comments here...Matt, you're truly someone I'm incredibly thankful for on this day and EVERYday. Enjoy your well-deserved, calorie- and football-rich, and politics-free Thanksgiving.
Why even have a TV? I've gone decades without even being able to stand having one on around me. It's like a machine that sprays a foul odor into the room.
I used to listen to the Celtic family musical groups out of Nova Scotia. Fiddler Natalie MacMaster and singers -- the Rankin family. Lovely material. Especially at Christmas.
Cheers! To one and all. Grateful for Matt and Walter’s dialogues and for being born an American growing up when we were taught to love and be proud of our great nation, warts and all, there is no better experiment in self-government alive on the planet. May God Bless this planet and all of us crazy humans, may we find some peace today and in as many laps around the sun as the Lord sees fit to give us together. Amen.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Matt! Music is a great topic and a fascinating reveal of how many ideologues think only their tribe should be allowed to love a song. Keep on rocking in the free world.! (And Canada, too, Neil!) 😉
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Matt, and to everyone else here.
I'm taking a break from reading "The Classics of Marxism" Volume One so I can just listen to music (I'm listening to the soundtrack from "Velvet Goldmine" right now, and later I will listen to some live New York Dolls), and later I will watch a couple of "Man from UNCLE" movies on the DVR.
Utterly thankful for you Matt! Many blessings to you and your family today and always! Cheers to all!
ditto. what he (Fabione) said.
I am thankful for the work Matt and Walter put into their reporting, and for the opportunity it has given me to "meet" so many intelligent, well wishing people on the Comments board. You are my go-to whenever something breaks in the news. This is the only board where I find honest reactions, backed up with facts ...and much needed humor at times. Sail on!
No a capella song can ever be forgiven for knocking Sweet Child o Mine from the #1 slot. Defense of a particularly saccharine a capella song is indefensible.
Citing that hype man and buffoon Flavor was a commercial buffoon later so a Chuck D lyric is undermined is as nonsensical as writing off a Shakespearean couplet that carries a serious message by citing a Falstaff phrase as from the same writer.
Saying that the Chuck D lyric is "unfair" to McFerrin for Chuck simply rejecting the feel good sensibility personally means either some holiday rest or a good editor is needed.
Hmmm. Perhaps re-read the headline and lede? Enjoy the day. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, Matt!! Love you, love you, love you!! And Walter, too! Have a beautiful day with your family. 💕💕💕💕
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Racket News gang with a special shout out to the perennial mystery man, Mr. Producer.
Is declaring that one hates politics in 2025 a bit like declaring that one hates religion in, say, 1425?
Does anybody actually like politics except for those who make money from it? I don't like it, but i still have to pay attention to it. The years that i didn't we had Clinton and the Bushes.
"Politics" is the question of who gets what, and it's a very interesting and important topic for everyone. The entire scheme to deceive people into thinking "politics" means donkeys vs elephants, who coincidentally completely agree across the board about who gets what and who does not, is transparent and asinine but it still works on just about everyone for some reason.
I find it something it behooves me to know as a citizen and a voter. That doesn't mean I find it interesting, there are many, many other things I find a lot more interesting. As for donkeys and elephants, I'm a Bernie lefty, Independent, and double hater, I vote for neither top of the ticket.
Bernie? You mean the socialist-with-three-houses? Who flies on private jets? That Bernie?
Yep, that one. Until a better option becomes available. I don't see anything on deck as it stands.
Just so you know... I was Bernie Bro from about 1982 (mayor of Burlington) to 2016... But yeah, that's how socialism works, the higher ups live well and the rest of us are left "building socialism" with empty grocery shelves and ration cards...
Khanna seems to be the best available at the moment.
Ah, so you’re the one we have to thank for those guys! I’ve been wondering all these years who to blame…
Seriously, if you’re proceeding from the premise that people who make money off politics are somehow successful as a result of the unpopularity of politics, think again. Consider the immense success of political talk shows on television, including those hosted by ostensible comedians. Consider the proliferation of channels and websites online—YouTube in particular—geared not only to political discussions and analyses, but also specializing in footage of political insults, cheap shots and jabs. Consider next the possibility that politics has become a weird, rather brutal form of entertainment. And in that regard, the same psychology that makes professional wrestling popular would make a rewarding indulgence out of politics, only on a vaster scale.
I mentioned religion, because I think much of its psychology has found a new life in politics. In the West, arguably, religion has declined since the days of Darwin. But, likewise arguably, the basic aspects of religious language and incentive have been shifted to the secular realm—especially the more censorious inclinations of religion. All of the fun and collective joy of sniffing out witches, burning heretics and ruining neighbors who might not “think the right way” are still very much alive and well in our culture.
So in answer to your question, I would say that there are relatively few people in our society—you and I alone, perhaps—who genuinely dislike politics. But there is a significant number who absolutely love it.
I actually agree with you about the religion part. I think the Dems at least traded religion for party. I also think that it's not the politics per se that people love, it's s just a vehicle for having a team to cheer for virtue signaling their own superiority.
Tribalism. Human nature. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm with you there, for sure. It could be similar to cinema, in the proposition that a film's success has less to do with its content or tenor, and more to do with the wide collective habit, simply, of consuming motion pictures. I would add to it that politics, like religions and movies, might offer a certain illusion of drama, purpose and meaning in the face of a universe profoundly indifferent.
It is what happens when a hunter-gatherer brain is subsumed by the protections of technology. Those survival circuits demand input.
The 'feminization' of culture, for better or worse, began a long, long time ago.
Technology has become the driver of evolution and vastly outpaces the ability of genetics to adapt, except perhaps in life forms that reproduce fast enough to do so. And we have been stupid enough to create technology that vastly increases their ability to attack us. But it is extraordinarily profitable--in the capitalist sense, anyway.
Sorry. Don't worry, be happy. Today, anyway, at least...to be alive at such a time is truly a blessing for those of us who can afford this indulgence ;-)
I dislike politics being viewed by some as a game. Our personal lives and ability to live freely and as well as we can is not a game!
“Become”? It’s ALWAYS been entertainment, at least since the invention of the printing press. “Hey look over here! ( surreptitious hand in your pocket )”.
Happy Apologize-for-European-Ancestry Day, everyone!!
Gratitude today for our colonialist oppressor ancestors who committed genocide on the innocent turkey population. 🦃 Yum! Plus, live dangerously and cook the stuffing inside the turkey because it tastes so much better.
Grateful for those colonists, who weren’t the first to explore America, who braved the journey in search of freedom and found it. I thank you today !
There are more turkeys in America now than when the Pilgrims arrived, so thank goodness for colonization!
Yes, because when I was growing up there was a veritable epidemic of stuffing-cooked-inside-the-turkey food poisoning 🤢
Well then those people didn't know how to cook!
( Cough Cough ) You skipped your obligatory land acknowledgement! SHAME!
I heard my first land acknowledgement, in Canada, from the pews of a beautiful Anglican Church about 15 years ago.
Being the sort that I am....I had to hold myself back from embarrassing the family by standing up and saying to the Pastor uttering this silliness...."So give it all back, then! This urban-parish land must be worth a small fortune. Hand over your deed tomorrow to whatever tribe claims the acreage. Buildings included. Since this issue means so much to you. Put your money where your mouth is."
Wish now that I had....would have gone down in parish lore.
Cheers, I go to bed and wake up with a gratitude list. As a result, I sleep well and tend not to take the world and myself, too seriously. Why not give thanks every day twice a day? Works for me and countless others! Don't need to wait for the turkey and pumpkin pie!
I use affirmations daily to change my negative thought to a positive. Best thing I did this year was hike The Camino in northern Spain. Days of peace..no TV, social media or politics. Just happy people peacefully walking amongst the trees. I actually grieved when I got home. Happy thanksgiving everyone.
Hmm. Thanks for the reply and happy thanksgiving. Grieving because we're among people isn't the result I'm seeking.
The going to bed and getting up giving thanks concept isnt my idea. Folks more consistently happy had to explain the benefits to me. I finally followed their suggestions and I discovered they were right. Another bright idea is: it's never too late to have a good day.
Placing the needs of others first is also a great path to improving a day. I've done the opposite plenty. No comparison if what we're after is consistently positive emotional outcomes. Give thanks before bed. I heard early on from one practitioner that if you can't think of anything to be grateful for: be grateful you're not on fire.
Sounds a bit extreme, but if you're watching the news right now, à propos. We could all use a prayer of hope and good will on a more than daily basis.
(^_^)
I was grieving because I was surrounded by 1000’s of happy content people in Spain only to come home and plopped back into not that. But ok. It was a nice break
My family and I have to find more workable, reliable, and affordable solutions. Folks a lot smarter than me have observed if we and those close to us have our health and each other, we have everything.
I do gratitude practices to overcome and even find peace in extremely trying circumstances. Check out Bookwench's comment. She's 100 percent right in my experience. Once we make lists of our blessings the foundation of a day it's pretty hard to stay gloomy. Best of luck with the affirmations.
I do that whenever I meditate.
It's amazing how, once I start listing my blessings, I almost can't stop.
It really helps keep things in perspective.
So right. True recent events. I've a couple of friends fighting cancer and other serious conditions right now, each grateful - why? Coz, they've built good lives, and most important it's them getting the MRIs and chemo and not their spouses, or kids.
I've recently seen children in parts of hospitals where no kid belongs, puts everything in perspective.
I completely agree Paul! Gratitude is my first thought when I wake up. I’ve made gratitude and thankfulness a daily practice, and I’ve never been happier in my life.
A big Happy Thanksgiving to you, Matt! May you enjoy a well-deserved break from thinking about this chaotic world. Enjoy your time with family. ♥️
Thank you for this word. Will try to get back to that practice..
Get back to the grindstone, you slacker! Dance for my entertainment! Dance!
Happy Thanksgiving from flyover country.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and also to Walter and his family.
my first thought was, which 3 games? Uno? Cribbage? Scrabble? Then I realized, oh yeah, FOOTBALL. So grateful for Matt Taibbi, Racket News and America this Week. And as an incurable optimist and mostly happy person, thank you for speaking to the demonization of happiness even though you are a good old cynical reporter.
'And as an incurable optimist and mostly happy person, thank you for speaking to the demonization of happiness even though you are a good old cynical reporter.'
That's the part I especially appreciate.
Echoing so many other comments here...Matt, you're truly someone I'm incredibly thankful for on this day and EVERYday. Enjoy your well-deserved, calorie- and football-rich, and politics-free Thanksgiving.
Good advice Matt - just turned off the TV & instead am playing Celtic Women Christmas music.
Why even have a TV? I've gone decades without even being able to stand having one on around me. It's like a machine that sprays a foul odor into the room.
You're not gonna believe this, but I just popped in my own disc of Celtic Women Christmas carols. Gorgeous!
I used to listen to the Celtic family musical groups out of Nova Scotia. Fiddler Natalie MacMaster and singers -- the Rankin family. Lovely material. Especially at Christmas.
I do believe u. Aren’t we fortunate (thankful is probably a better adjective especially today). Heavenly voices
Cheers! To one and all. Grateful for Matt and Walter’s dialogues and for being born an American growing up when we were taught to love and be proud of our great nation, warts and all, there is no better experiment in self-government alive on the planet. May God Bless this planet and all of us crazy humans, may we find some peace today and in as many laps around the sun as the Lord sees fit to give us together. Amen.
Happy Thanksgiving to Matt and his family.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Matt! Music is a great topic and a fascinating reveal of how many ideologues think only their tribe should be allowed to love a song. Keep on rocking in the free world.! (And Canada, too, Neil!) 😉
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Matt, and to everyone else here.
I'm taking a break from reading "The Classics of Marxism" Volume One so I can just listen to music (I'm listening to the soundtrack from "Velvet Goldmine" right now, and later I will listen to some live New York Dolls), and later I will watch a couple of "Man from UNCLE" movies on the DVR.
I have the New York Dolls' first album.
I keep hoping it will be worth something someday.
Cool:)