He was stroke-addled to the point of being unable to speak coherently and they described criticism of his mental state as bigotry. Now he’s declining to participate in their deluded hysteria and they’re insisting he’s losing his mind.
Really lovely. Yet another troglodyte that considers the use of "retard" as a "great cultural victory." I'm sure all those parents with developmentally disabled children that they love are applauding your "courage." Fuck off.
Really lovely. Yet another keyboard warrior that considers the use of "fuck off" as a "great cultural victory." I'm sure all those people with the social skills not to curse out a total stranger are applauding your "courage." Have a nice day.
This "keyboard warrior" uses her full name, Mike, unlike you. And "fuck off" is not a great cultural victory but a suitable reply to somebody who lacks any "sensibility to the inner feelings and whole inner significance of lives that are different from our own" (to quote William James). Why waste social skills on those who have none?
First of all, bub, my name is Francesca, not Frances (surprise, surprise, we're not all of Anglo heritage and would like to be addressed in a way that recognizes that fact!). Second, I was lucky enough to happen to work with the community of developmentally disabled folks (only because that was the only job available in my area at the time, not by "charitable" intention), and I was surprised to find out that some individuals in the developmentally disabled community are aware of the contempt embedded in the term "retard" when it is used by supposedly (and I emphasize the word "supposedly" developmentally abled individuals), and IT HURTS THEIR FEELINGS. Now, if you have the social skills that Mikey pretended you have, then you don't want to unintentionally hurt people, right? Even if they don't happen to be present, right? So take the time, and that unimpaired brain that you were lucky enough to draw at birth, and find a new fucking word!
From my reading of Yuri's post, I think he was probably referring to Democrats as retarded. I was you, FRANCESCA, who immediately associated the offending term with the developmentally disabled community, which is truly offensive. Intent matters.
You're the lady instigator on the subway, the one who wouldn't let a guy wear his Maga hat in peace, then you went splat on the platform trying to chase him down. TDS is strong in you.
Stigmatizing mental illness or incapacity is Very Problematic for the In This House We Believe yard-sign crew until it can be used to burn a heretic at the stake. Then it’s good. Necessary and obvious, in fact.
These transparent about-faces keep readers in the cult, forcing them to disown their own sincerely held beliefs from just last week to maintain the party line. They become trained to wait for the next official opinion to be transmitted to them, since the constantly shifting party line leaves them uncertain whether any original thought they had would be acceptable.
Southern Baptist leaders release a previously secret list of accused sexual abusers
May 27, 202211:08 AM ET
By The Associated Press
In response to an explosive investigation, top Southern Baptists have released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse.
The 205-page database was made public late Thursday. It includes more than 700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019.
Its existence became widely known Sunday when the independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, included it in its bombshell report detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous survivors and prioritized protecting the SBC from liability.
Now, I'm not saying this is "most" Baptist ministers, but you have to admit, it includes way too many. And, it should never have been a "secret list".
FYI in 2024 there were 46,876 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. My fairly small church has three pastor/elders, all of whom preach and teach. You do the math. Although 700 is way too many, it is a small fraction of the pastors in the SBC. Pastors are human beings and human beings are sinners. You really shouldn't have been so quick to come up with this report. You know what He said about casting the first stone, don't you? John 8:7 - He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
I completely agree! It is so like the same revisionist tendencies in Russia after the communist revolution succeeded. History was changed in accordance with each new program for how things would be done from then on, and heroes in previous accounts could become officially scum in later versions of the state narrative.
That's "stroke-addled?" Go fuck yourself. I had a stroke in 2010, and initially had total aphasia; I also couldn't write or type. Over the weekend after the stoke (on Friday), I finished a book on Eliot Spitzer as my mind was still working fine. When I got home on Monday, I completed a complex billing for a Secure Detention Center. I just couldn't speak, write, or type; I certainly wasn't speaking coherently as I couldn't communicate.
During my recovery, I re-learned those skills and made many mistakes, including constantly misnaming my two dogs with the opposite names or names of deceased dogs.
I don't think people understand stokes and aphasia unless they experience or someone they know experiences. I went to the hospital when my husband had a stroke and the medical staff immediately told me to find a nursing home before they had done any tests....and within 3 days he was obviously thinking clearly but the words weren't coming out right. I stayed firm and he recovered with some rehab. A few words here and there got jumbled for a while. Do not ever leave anyone alone in a hospital. Glad you came back strong.
My husband had a stroke a year ago. We were fortunate he was sent to a hospital with a great team to evaluate his needs.
Although Sen. F is much younger than my husband, it was abusive to put the candidate on stage for that debate. His family and team and Party love power more than his needs. Sick. And now they are willing to abandon ship. ‘Guarantee they have Plan B in the works.
When my husband was in the ER and they were asking the typical questions ( What month is it, what day is it, etc. to test his cognitive ability), when they asked him if he knew who the Pres was, he said, “Crooked Joe Biden.” Not only did he know who was the Pres, he knew who Wanted to be Pres. I think.
I was incredibly lucky. Apparently, a golf-ball sized area of my brain is dead, so the connections between thinking and speaking, writing, and typing had to be rewired. I had three months of speech therapy at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, but took and passed their driving certification test just 10 days after my stroke.
I am sorry you had to go through such a thing. I've seen a few people, and sincerely hope I don't have to experience it first hand.
While insensitive JD may have been, the point is mildly relevant. Fetterman had a stroke mid-run for a SENATE seat, and the Democratic party accused anybody who questioned whether it was best for him to step aside and heal himself as a bigot or asshole for doing so.
The truth is that he should have stepped aside, the issue for many was... he was running against friggin Doctor OZ FFS. I voted for Erik Gerhardt. But here we are almost 3 years on, and suddenly the left is questioning his mental stability because... He is questioning them. Here is that Democrat Purity test again.
The Democratic party by all right should be dead by now, much like the Republican party should have died as a result of the TEA Party, but here we are.. A nation of abject morons, and we deserver our fate because we are simply too Effing Stupid.
Note the smiely face, there, Cooper - not yelling at you. I get so annoyed when people insist that we should have term limits, but then they just go ahead and vote for the same dimwits, over and over again.
The American public should get what it deserves - good and hard.
What perhaps bothers me most is that I am certain that many senators often believe differently than the party line, but rarely speak out, and even more rarely vote their beliefs.
98% of all DC politicians vote for the beliefs of those that put them in that position and promise them security for their families, and a comfortable "position" after their "service" has ended.
It's amazing to me that nobody questions that these "JOBS" pay roughly 200k per year, and it costs on average about $8M to $20M to even get the job, and then almost all of these people end up $50M+ richer after they are done....
More context on the "Republican party should have died as a result of the TEA Party" please.
As a TEA Party person myself, we were trying to find conservatives, not Republicans, to fill Congress. We had to wait until Trump showed up, but darn, he keeps backing the neocon Republicans.
I read Taibbi's column because he pisses me off but also makes me reexamine what I think. At this point, I'm finding it hard to find firm ground anywhere. I have the feeling that there are a lot of us out here who want decency and consistency and can't find anybody who embodies either. The two parties seem to have a chokehold on the system, and neither appears to give a shit about the country or people other than themselves. So vote, vote, vote, isn't really a solution, is it, unless we find a way to open up the system to people who actually have principles and can stick to them.
As to Fetterman, I'm still wondering if he is mentally unstable, stroke aside. He seems determined to come across as a maverick but has no discernible foundational beliefs to support the positions he takes.
I agree with everything in your first paragraph. I think since about 2012 we have been in the midst of a populist backlash against elite overreach that has long since captured both parties. I also think it's a big mistake to think that the social and political instability and populism started with Trump. As to Fetterman I have no idea what he believes but I gotta admit that I really like how he seems to be totally unafraid.
You summed up my feelings. I love to use the "Steeler's Wheel" analogy of clowns and jokers. I worked for government.. In IT.. so I saw too much. I've worked with, not just for... 3 billionaires. I've worked for big Pharma. The world is screwed because too many people are simply idiots that read a headline and then believe they understand the cause.
Our government representatives have ZERO Effs to give about us... the ultimate irony is Hollywood. They actually portray these people truly as they are, and yet still think they care... It's either the height of stupidity, or the depths of psychopathy ...
Voting is the ultimate in stupidity. Elections are predetermined. Only the vetted make it to the ballot. And the vetted are rewarded for making the true rulers more powerful.
'Fully Batcrap crazy' is not context. I know Obama thought so, but he was the one that got us started while on the campaign trail the first time - throwing out his socialist ideas.
Boo you Turd! I I like you, but Boo you on that assessment! You just weren’t ready. My views haven’t changed since then - I just identified that your camp was gonna start chopping their dicks off and insisting they were women.
Fetterman was campaigning for the role of United States Senator - a role in which communication is a vital skill. At the time, he could not communicate competently, and it was unclear if that would improve. That was disqualifying even if his mind was sharp. His speech issues also made it impossible to know how well his mind was working. His campaign might have mitigated concerns by demonstrating his mental acuity, but it chose the Joe Biden technique instead, playing "hide the candidate".
Partisans from Eliot Spitzer's party insisted that Fetterman was well-qualified then and is unqualified now. If your concern is truly about the unfair stigmatization of stroke victims, it would make sense to condemn the maligning of the asymptomatic, post-recovery victim much more than it make sense to condemn someone for saying "How can the guy who can't speak do a speaking job?"
Let's be real. The only ability that's required of a U.S. Senator is to press the button to vote. You think Fetterman, who was getting better after a stroke, was any worse than Dianne Feinstein and others, who were wandering into dementia?
No, I wouldn't have voted for him because it wasn't obvious how far he would be able to come back; nor would I have voted for the shyster Mehmet Oz. But I would far rather have Fetterman as my U.S. Senator than either of the two clowns who now represent NY State.
BTW: I've been a registered Republican since I first voted in 1970 for the Conservative Party candidate, James L. Buckley. Charles Goodell, Jr. (father of NFL Commissioner Roger) and Richard Ottinger might as well have run for the CPUSA nomination.
Well it’s understandable for a layperson to conflate inability to speak properly, in a person, who previously had no speech issues, with poor brain function.
So I think you’re being a bit hard on JD Free. ( Apropos of nothing, I hope he’s not a JD Vance fan.)
Your comment relaying your personal experience I actually found quite informative.
( My father had a stroke, and he did not recover well.)
And I happen to think that Senator Fetterman has a lot more courage and independence than almost all other senators.
When my husband was unable to speak after a stroke he made a sign to me that meant "where is breakfast?" which cracked me up sort of and was the first sign that he was going to be ok.
You know what they say: "Different strokes for different folks."
Strokes affect people in different ways. That should be obvious as the brain is not a simple thing and strokes are not all created equal. Not everyone can "complete a complex billing for a Secure Detention Center" after a stroke.
Glad your doing well. I had a series of undiagnosed small stokes, during 2015 and 2016, that made me behave like I had serious PTSD. The docs didn't look at my brain, they just treated me for PTSD. I had no idea why I was behaving that way. I remember wondering how could I have PTSD without the "T", but the trauma was undiagnosed physical damage to my brain.
I look at it now like my brain was an assembled puzzle on a table that got bumped. The pieces were still there, and they were still close to each other, but they needed to be pushed back together again.
One thing I've noticed in myself and in others is that strokes seem to blow away the pretentiousness of life. Whether it's the fear I endured, or something from the actual physical damage, I stopped giving a crap about what other people think. The neighbors can go screw themselves, lol!
AMEN David! I experienced a stroke 2 months ago and could comprehend everything but couldn't form words- either hand written or typed. My hand writing is still pretty bad, but improving steadily.
Yes, I agree-if you haven't been there, just shut the fuck up!
You are not wrong. My only caveat would be, the two-party has control on how you get to run. Only someone with tons of $$$ has a chance to break out. Trump had enough to break out AND to fight the horseshit prosecutions against him.
People who have been active in local and state politics have told me that the Democratic Party decides who will be a preferred candidate, then they police other Party politicians to ensure that only that candidate gets endorsed.
Yup he got the Kennedy treatment. He dared to think for himself and therefore he must have a brain worm or brain damage from his stroke or isn't taking his meds. It's brutal out there if you cross the path of the blob.
It is the litmus test of whether a group is totalitarian or not -- if an insider or outsider dissents to or questions their leader or group narrative -- how do they respond?
If they shun/smear/punish, it is the classic indicator of totalitarianism. Which is not solely political.
The modern Democratic Party is a paramilitary organization. It's been a loooong time since a McGovern or a Dukakis would eventually emerge as their "leader" from the fog of internal warfare.
I'd be interested to know what people think changed in America that we have two parties moored only in their own self-preservation. Is there something wrong with us (the people) or with them? Is it the economic system or just the times? What the hell happened?
In the 19th and even early 20th century, politicians sometimes had to leave politics to earn a living for their families. There is so much grift, so much feeding at the public trough by both parties that this is simply no longer the case today. That is why they suppress the emergence of third parties, why they exclude them from debates. That is why elections cost millions and, in the case of the Presidency, now into the billions of dollars. People don't give millions of dollars to someone they don't know for nothing. Patronage is alive and well, if more subtle today. The average American never sees this, which is why there is so much uproar over DOGE. If Americans broadly understood this, well....
Aren't you mixing two separate problems? I agree we have people pouring money into the system to buy political favors. I also agree we have a bloated bureaucracy whose members are supporting one party or the other, with little gained by the public they are supposed to serve. But, my outrage over DOGE is, one, there was no independent oversight of what was being done once Musk's crew got into the government records, and, two, how can you trust Musk to stop government waste when he is one of the biggest individual "feeders at the public trough"? Amazingly, the Department of Defense, which failed, I believe, 7 audits in the past years, is going to get more money than before. It seems to me we just switched one bunch of grifters for another.
I think you confuse lack of thought with independent thought. Independent thought is consistent and is "independent" because it is rooted in unshakeable principles and values. I don't think that applies to the trio you name.
I know of no politician with "unshakeable principles and values", not one. To me, independent means a willingness to stand for what one believes and not be prisoner to a particular ideology, culture or political party. My definition does indeed apply to those three individuals, however right or wrong history may judge them to be.
Okay. I think "unshakeable principles and values" and "a willingness to stand for what one believes and not be a prisoner to a particular ideology, culture, or political party" are the same thing, provided that what one believes is rooted in consistent rational thought and not just the result of narcissistic grandstanding. Now, explain to me how Sinema and Kennedy exemplify the former and not the latter. (Gabbard, I confess, puzzles me. The few times I saw her in the past, she struck me as straightforward. I tend to think the shit that the Dems threw at her (Hillary in particular), knocked her off course, but that doesn't excuse the cringe-inducing groveling she's engaging in at those cabinet meetings. I have to think she goes home and takes loooong showers.
Also used by Victorian gentlemen without a legal divorce option to get rid of the wife for a newer model. All that was required was a bribable doctor in one's circle, signing that the old model wife was "mad".
Although I hasten to add that being a non-feminist woman myself, I must admit that women are equally capable of gaslighting, under different circumstances.
There is a variant of gaslighting in which the target is not accused of mental illness to degrade or humiliate them, but of abuse of some sort. False allegations. And we know that this version is very popular.
How can you be a non-feminist when women are so often forced to gaslight? What other options do we have? I guess being declared mad is better, in your view, than being replaced because your husband no longer has the hots for you but can't say it 'cause. . . you might sue him for breach of contract. A madwoman has no agency. She is, after all, mad.
Bonnie, I was talking about this happening in the Victorian age. Not now.
I'm afraid you sound as if you're another woman who has taken one too many of the gender studies classes. I steered very far clear of them, myself.
I was always too smart to be lured into feminism. I could see what they were doing. It was just another neo-Marxist ideology meant to destroy.
But they couldn't present it that way, could they? Had to be presented as if it was the enlightened, superior, progressive thing to be...😁. Had to engage the vanities! That's the main trick of con-artists everywhere. They certainly do not announce upfront they are intending to dupe you.
Okay, A.A., before you shuttle me off to get lost in Carl Jung, explain how feminism is "just another neo-Marxist ideology meant to destroy." To me, that implies that you think Western civilization was just fine before Marxist criticism of capitalism and before women expanded their role in society beyond wife and mother.
He has/d aphasia. It is a speech and language disruption, following stroke in the areas of the brain that control speech and language. Look it up people. Clearly, he worked incredibly hard to recover from it, and people can get depressed at feeling alienated by their difficulty communicating. Maybe the NYT should call and talk to the American Speech Language and Hearing Association or the Aphasiology Association. This is a disorder that’s been known to mankind as long as man has been around. But that would be doing their homework being responsible and that’s something that’s just beyond the scope of the New York Times these days.
They don't seriously believe he's got mental health issues. They are simply beginning the process of getting rid of a free thinker who they thought was in the bag for their leftist insanity.
Waving the Israeli flag from the rooftop of his Batman-villian warehouse home was cool and normal, but considering voting for Pete Hegseth is clear indication of a mental health crisis.
Actually the pro-Pali wing of the Dem party (i.e. most of it) didn't like it at all. I didn't worry about whether it was "normal" but I thought it was definitely cool.
So considering voting for Hegseth warrants serious condideration of brain damage.
When or where was there ever this type of analysis of Biden before the debate debacle? In his case, even speculating about his mental status was considered a step short of treason.
Looks like political "asylums" might not be far away.
I'm glad you posted this. I read it earlier, belies belief. They just have to smear and destroy people who show any signs of independent or critical thinking. Not to mention a rather profound recovery from a stroke. Disgusting people. Maybe he will hop off that crazy clown car and join the rest of us!
He was stroke-addled to the point of being unable to speak coherently and they described criticism of his mental state as bigotry. Now he’s declining to participate in their deluded hysteria and they’re insisting he’s losing his mind.
In a party of retards the stroked-out man is king.
Love this!!
or....... the one in charge of the lobotomized man's autopen is king.
Really lovely. Yet another troglodyte that considers the use of "retard" as a "great cultural victory." I'm sure all those parents with developmentally disabled children that they love are applauding your "courage." Fuck off.
Really lovely. Yet another keyboard warrior that considers the use of "fuck off" as a "great cultural victory." I'm sure all those people with the social skills not to curse out a total stranger are applauding your "courage." Have a nice day.
This "keyboard warrior" uses her full name, Mike, unlike you. And "fuck off" is not a great cultural victory but a suitable reply to somebody who lacks any "sensibility to the inner feelings and whole inner significance of lives that are different from our own" (to quote William James). Why waste social skills on those who have none?
Francesca have you met Karen?
No, but I've met bullies and cowards before.
Lighten up Frances
I don’t think retards are reading here, but some self righteous, long winded saviors are hoping we read their tomes.
First of all, bub, my name is Francesca, not Frances (surprise, surprise, we're not all of Anglo heritage and would like to be addressed in a way that recognizes that fact!). Second, I was lucky enough to happen to work with the community of developmentally disabled folks (only because that was the only job available in my area at the time, not by "charitable" intention), and I was surprised to find out that some individuals in the developmentally disabled community are aware of the contempt embedded in the term "retard" when it is used by supposedly (and I emphasize the word "supposedly" developmentally abled individuals), and IT HURTS THEIR FEELINGS. Now, if you have the social skills that Mikey pretended you have, then you don't want to unintentionally hurt people, right? Even if they don't happen to be present, right? So take the time, and that unimpaired brain that you were lucky enough to draw at birth, and find a new fucking word!
From my reading of Yuri's post, I think he was probably referring to Democrats as retarded. I was you, FRANCESCA, who immediately associated the offending term with the developmentally disabled community, which is truly offensive. Intent matters.
You're the lady instigator on the subway, the one who wouldn't let a guy wear his Maga hat in peace, then you went splat on the platform trying to chase him down. TDS is strong in you.
hello im on the spectrum and retard is probably one of my most used words
Francesca, it was beneficial to your awareness that you had no other opportunity for work than to serve the needs of the de
Stigmatizing mental illness or incapacity is Very Problematic for the In This House We Believe yard-sign crew until it can be used to burn a heretic at the stake. Then it’s good. Necessary and obvious, in fact.
These transparent about-faces keep readers in the cult, forcing them to disown their own sincerely held beliefs from just last week to maintain the party line. They become trained to wait for the next official opinion to be transmitted to them, since the constantly shifting party line leaves them uncertain whether any original thought they had would be acceptable.
Like gay-bashing, except when NYT publishes cartoons of Trump kissing Putin.
Ironic huh? Kissing Putin is the very least of depictions there. They simply can't see their hypocrisy. It's like Baptist Ministers....
What an appropriate first name! You know NOTHING about most Baptist ministers!
Southern Baptist leaders release a previously secret list of accused sexual abusers
May 27, 202211:08 AM ET
By The Associated Press
In response to an explosive investigation, top Southern Baptists have released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse.
The 205-page database was made public late Thursday. It includes more than 700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019.
Its existence became widely known Sunday when the independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, included it in its bombshell report detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous survivors and prioritized protecting the SBC from liability.
Now, I'm not saying this is "most" Baptist ministers, but you have to admit, it includes way too many. And, it should never have been a "secret list".
FYI in 2024 there were 46,876 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. My fairly small church has three pastor/elders, all of whom preach and teach. You do the math. Although 700 is way too many, it is a small fraction of the pastors in the SBC. Pastors are human beings and human beings are sinners. You really shouldn't have been so quick to come up with this report. You know what He said about casting the first stone, don't you? John 8:7 - He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
That's good advice.
We don’t use the word “heretic” enough. Very descriptive of the Dem way of thinking these days. Don’t tell them. They will want to ban it.
I completely agree! It is so like the same revisionist tendencies in Russia after the communist revolution succeeded. History was changed in accordance with each new program for how things would be done from then on, and heroes in previous accounts could become officially scum in later versions of the state narrative.
The narrative is fluid. It is the power of predator over chosen prey that counts.
Just like in the old Soviet Union where one had to every morning listen/read state-run media to find out what "was in, what was out."
That's "stroke-addled?" Go fuck yourself. I had a stroke in 2010, and initially had total aphasia; I also couldn't write or type. Over the weekend after the stoke (on Friday), I finished a book on Eliot Spitzer as my mind was still working fine. When I got home on Monday, I completed a complex billing for a Secure Detention Center. I just couldn't speak, write, or type; I certainly wasn't speaking coherently as I couldn't communicate.
During my recovery, I re-learned those skills and made many mistakes, including constantly misnaming my two dogs with the opposite names or names of deceased dogs.
If you haven't been there, just shut the fuck up.
I don't think people understand stokes and aphasia unless they experience or someone they know experiences. I went to the hospital when my husband had a stroke and the medical staff immediately told me to find a nursing home before they had done any tests....and within 3 days he was obviously thinking clearly but the words weren't coming out right. I stayed firm and he recovered with some rehab. A few words here and there got jumbled for a while. Do not ever leave anyone alone in a hospital. Glad you came back strong.
My husband had a stroke a year ago. We were fortunate he was sent to a hospital with a great team to evaluate his needs.
Although Sen. F is much younger than my husband, it was abusive to put the candidate on stage for that debate. His family and team and Party love power more than his needs. Sick. And now they are willing to abandon ship. ‘Guarantee they have Plan B in the works.
When my husband was in the ER and they were asking the typical questions ( What month is it, what day is it, etc. to test his cognitive ability), when they asked him if he knew who the Pres was, he said, “Crooked Joe Biden.” Not only did he know who was the Pres, he knew who Wanted to be Pres. I think.
I was incredibly lucky. Apparently, a golf-ball sized area of my brain is dead, so the connections between thinking and speaking, writing, and typing had to be rewired. I had three months of speech therapy at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, but took and passed their driving certification test just 10 days after my stroke.
I think of the insights concerning stroke of Dr. Edward Taub, Behavioural Neuroscientist.
I am sorry you had to go through such a thing. I've seen a few people, and sincerely hope I don't have to experience it first hand.
While insensitive JD may have been, the point is mildly relevant. Fetterman had a stroke mid-run for a SENATE seat, and the Democratic party accused anybody who questioned whether it was best for him to step aside and heal himself as a bigot or asshole for doing so.
The truth is that he should have stepped aside, the issue for many was... he was running against friggin Doctor OZ FFS. I voted for Erik Gerhardt. But here we are almost 3 years on, and suddenly the left is questioning his mental stability because... He is questioning them. Here is that Democrat Purity test again.
The Democratic party by all right should be dead by now, much like the Republican party should have died as a result of the TEA Party, but here we are.. A nation of abject morons, and we deserver our fate because we are simply too Effing Stupid.
I think the majority of Americans are very decent people. We happen to be run by vile people, from both sides.
I really do think we deserve better.
THEN GET OUT THERE AND VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!! :-)
Note the smiely face, there, Cooper - not yelling at you. I get so annoyed when people insist that we should have term limits, but then they just go ahead and vote for the same dimwits, over and over again.
The American public should get what it deserves - good and hard.
No offense taken- thanks!
What perhaps bothers me most is that I am certain that many senators often believe differently than the party line, but rarely speak out, and even more rarely vote their beliefs.
98% of all DC politicians vote for the beliefs of those that put them in that position and promise them security for their families, and a comfortable "position" after their "service" has ended.
It's amazing to me that nobody questions that these "JOBS" pay roughly 200k per year, and it costs on average about $8M to $20M to even get the job, and then almost all of these people end up $50M+ richer after they are done....
You always get the government you deserve.
More context on the "Republican party should have died as a result of the TEA Party" please.
As a TEA Party person myself, we were trying to find conservatives, not Republicans, to fill Congress. We had to wait until Trump showed up, but darn, he keeps backing the neocon Republicans.
Please take this with all the love in the world. The Majority of the TEA party was fully Batcrap crazy, much like today's woke Left.
I read Taibbi's column because he pisses me off but also makes me reexamine what I think. At this point, I'm finding it hard to find firm ground anywhere. I have the feeling that there are a lot of us out here who want decency and consistency and can't find anybody who embodies either. The two parties seem to have a chokehold on the system, and neither appears to give a shit about the country or people other than themselves. So vote, vote, vote, isn't really a solution, is it, unless we find a way to open up the system to people who actually have principles and can stick to them.
As to Fetterman, I'm still wondering if he is mentally unstable, stroke aside. He seems determined to come across as a maverick but has no discernible foundational beliefs to support the positions he takes.
I agree with everything in your first paragraph. I think since about 2012 we have been in the midst of a populist backlash against elite overreach that has long since captured both parties. I also think it's a big mistake to think that the social and political instability and populism started with Trump. As to Fetterman I have no idea what he believes but I gotta admit that I really like how he seems to be totally unafraid.
You summed up my feelings. I love to use the "Steeler's Wheel" analogy of clowns and jokers. I worked for government.. In IT.. so I saw too much. I've worked with, not just for... 3 billionaires. I've worked for big Pharma. The world is screwed because too many people are simply idiots that read a headline and then believe they understand the cause.
Our government representatives have ZERO Effs to give about us... the ultimate irony is Hollywood. They actually portray these people truly as they are, and yet still think they care... It's either the height of stupidity, or the depths of psychopathy ...
Voting is the ultimate in stupidity. Elections are predetermined. Only the vetted make it to the ballot. And the vetted are rewarded for making the true rulers more powerful.
Good points, all
See Britain. And what happened in local elections this week.
Drove a road through the traditional two-party system.
Now see whether you can detect the relevant patterns there.
'Fully Batcrap crazy' is not context. I know Obama thought so, but he was the one that got us started while on the campaign trail the first time - throwing out his socialist ideas.
You are just as hateful, and unimaginative. You are just as unaccepting. Sorry... the TEA party is a different side of the coin, but still the coin.
Boo you Turd! I I like you, but Boo you on that assessment! You just weren’t ready. My views haven’t changed since then - I just identified that your camp was gonna start chopping their dicks off and insisting they were women.
I am sorry.. The TEA party is different from the Woke crowd, but no less delusional and stupid.
Fetterman was campaigning for the role of United States Senator - a role in which communication is a vital skill. At the time, he could not communicate competently, and it was unclear if that would improve. That was disqualifying even if his mind was sharp. His speech issues also made it impossible to know how well his mind was working. His campaign might have mitigated concerns by demonstrating his mental acuity, but it chose the Joe Biden technique instead, playing "hide the candidate".
Partisans from Eliot Spitzer's party insisted that Fetterman was well-qualified then and is unqualified now. If your concern is truly about the unfair stigmatization of stroke victims, it would make sense to condemn the maligning of the asymptomatic, post-recovery victim much more than it make sense to condemn someone for saying "How can the guy who can't speak do a speaking job?"
Let's be real. The only ability that's required of a U.S. Senator is to press the button to vote. You think Fetterman, who was getting better after a stroke, was any worse than Dianne Feinstein and others, who were wandering into dementia?
No, I wouldn't have voted for him because it wasn't obvious how far he would be able to come back; nor would I have voted for the shyster Mehmet Oz. But I would far rather have Fetterman as my U.S. Senator than either of the two clowns who now represent NY State.
BTW: I've been a registered Republican since I first voted in 1970 for the Conservative Party candidate, James L. Buckley. Charles Goodell, Jr. (father of NFL Commissioner Roger) and Richard Ottinger might as well have run for the CPUSA nomination.
Well it’s understandable for a layperson to conflate inability to speak properly, in a person, who previously had no speech issues, with poor brain function.
So I think you’re being a bit hard on JD Free. ( Apropos of nothing, I hope he’s not a JD Vance fan.)
Your comment relaying your personal experience I actually found quite informative.
( My father had a stroke, and he did not recover well.)
And I happen to think that Senator Fetterman has a lot more courage and independence than almost all other senators.
When my husband was unable to speak after a stroke he made a sign to me that meant "where is breakfast?" which cracked me up sort of and was the first sign that he was going to be ok.
Let’s not get swept up in the moment….,
It's tone-deafness as an art form, isn't it? (To be polite about it, anyway...)
You know what they say: "Different strokes for different folks."
Strokes affect people in different ways. That should be obvious as the brain is not a simple thing and strokes are not all created equal. Not everyone can "complete a complex billing for a Secure Detention Center" after a stroke.
Glad your doing well. I had a series of undiagnosed small stokes, during 2015 and 2016, that made me behave like I had serious PTSD. The docs didn't look at my brain, they just treated me for PTSD. I had no idea why I was behaving that way. I remember wondering how could I have PTSD without the "T", but the trauma was undiagnosed physical damage to my brain.
I look at it now like my brain was an assembled puzzle on a table that got bumped. The pieces were still there, and they were still close to each other, but they needed to be pushed back together again.
One thing I've noticed in myself and in others is that strokes seem to blow away the pretentiousness of life. Whether it's the fear I endured, or something from the actual physical damage, I stopped giving a crap about what other people think. The neighbors can go screw themselves, lol!
AMEN David! I experienced a stroke 2 months ago and could comprehend everything but couldn't form words- either hand written or typed. My hand writing is still pretty bad, but improving steadily.
Yes, I agree-if you haven't been there, just shut the fuck up!
My very best wishes for your challenging journey. Too bad you seem to be left with a potty mouth.
Nothing new; as a senior, I inherited the title, "Trenchmouth" in the Columbia Band.
Have a better day!
Fetterman is still voting for the gender cult at the expense of girls' and women's rights, so he is not deviating from the most sacred woke dogma.
You are not wrong. My only caveat would be, the two-party has control on how you get to run. Only someone with tons of $$$ has a chance to break out. Trump had enough to break out AND to fight the horseshit prosecutions against him.
People who have been active in local and state politics have told me that the Democratic Party decides who will be a preferred candidate, then they police other Party politicians to ensure that only that candidate gets endorsed.
True, that
Exactly. Deep down he’s just as evil as the rest of them. On occasion, he may get flashes of ethics… don’t let it fool you
Amazing how that works!
They're afraid he'll flip to R
So much for indignant denunciations of "ablism" Now it's oh-so-earnest use of ablism. Of course.
The New York Times should be regulated as a DNC organization; its total operating budget should be calculated as campaign contributions.
Yup he got the Kennedy treatment. He dared to think for himself and therefore he must have a brain worm or brain damage from his stroke or isn't taking his meds. It's brutal out there if you cross the path of the blob.
The Blob is what ruled both Nazi Germany and the USSR.
Both were trendsetters and experts in the use of propaganda and agit-prop.
Yes, they were. Although those talents appeared as a result of the main event.
Fetterman is the next on deck. He is the next democrat that will be driven completely out of the party for wrong think.
It is the litmus test of whether a group is totalitarian or not -- if an insider or outsider dissents to or questions their leader or group narrative -- how do they respond?
If they shun/smear/punish, it is the classic indicator of totalitarianism. Which is not solely political.
something like 60% of the recent republican party are exactly that...
He showed signs of independent thought. He must be crushed by the DNC.
He will go the way of Synnema, Gabbard, Kennedy and others. Independent thought is, well, undemocratic.
The modern Democratic Party is a paramilitary organization. It's been a loooong time since a McGovern or a Dukakis would eventually emerge as their "leader" from the fog of internal warfare.
It's hard to believe the Democrats produced people like Harry Truman or Walter Mondale, men who would not recognize their party today.
Citizens United decision (corporations are people) wrecked our democracy. Now the winner is the one most easily bought.
I'd be interested to know what people think changed in America that we have two parties moored only in their own self-preservation. Is there something wrong with us (the people) or with them? Is it the economic system or just the times? What the hell happened?
See m comment above. Citizens United is what happened.
In the 19th and even early 20th century, politicians sometimes had to leave politics to earn a living for their families. There is so much grift, so much feeding at the public trough by both parties that this is simply no longer the case today. That is why they suppress the emergence of third parties, why they exclude them from debates. That is why elections cost millions and, in the case of the Presidency, now into the billions of dollars. People don't give millions of dollars to someone they don't know for nothing. Patronage is alive and well, if more subtle today. The average American never sees this, which is why there is so much uproar over DOGE. If Americans broadly understood this, well....
Aren't you mixing two separate problems? I agree we have people pouring money into the system to buy political favors. I also agree we have a bloated bureaucracy whose members are supporting one party or the other, with little gained by the public they are supposed to serve. But, my outrage over DOGE is, one, there was no independent oversight of what was being done once Musk's crew got into the government records, and, two, how can you trust Musk to stop government waste when he is one of the biggest individual "feeders at the public trough"? Amazingly, the Department of Defense, which failed, I believe, 7 audits in the past years, is going to get more money than before. It seems to me we just switched one bunch of grifters for another.
Have you got a few hours?
If you want the answer in a nutshell, it is known as Shadow Possession. Theory by Carl Jung.
Okay, thanks (I think). Carl, here I come.
I think you confuse lack of thought with independent thought. Independent thought is consistent and is "independent" because it is rooted in unshakeable principles and values. I don't think that applies to the trio you name.
I know of no politician with "unshakeable principles and values", not one. To me, independent means a willingness to stand for what one believes and not be prisoner to a particular ideology, culture or political party. My definition does indeed apply to those three individuals, however right or wrong history may judge them to be.
Okay. I think "unshakeable principles and values" and "a willingness to stand for what one believes and not be a prisoner to a particular ideology, culture, or political party" are the same thing, provided that what one believes is rooted in consistent rational thought and not just the result of narcissistic grandstanding. Now, explain to me how Sinema and Kennedy exemplify the former and not the latter. (Gabbard, I confess, puzzles me. The few times I saw her in the past, she struck me as straightforward. I tend to think the shit that the Dems threw at her (Hillary in particular), knocked her off course, but that doesn't excuse the cringe-inducing groveling she's engaging in at those cabinet meetings. I have to think she goes home and takes loooong showers.
Its the old Soviet playback. Non conformity to the party line equals mental illness.
Also used by Victorian gentlemen without a legal divorce option to get rid of the wife for a newer model. All that was required was a bribable doctor in one's circle, signing that the old model wife was "mad".
Although I hasten to add that being a non-feminist woman myself, I must admit that women are equally capable of gaslighting, under different circumstances.
There is a variant of gaslighting in which the target is not accused of mental illness to degrade or humiliate them, but of abuse of some sort. False allegations. And we know that this version is very popular.
How can you be a non-feminist when women are so often forced to gaslight? What other options do we have? I guess being declared mad is better, in your view, than being replaced because your husband no longer has the hots for you but can't say it 'cause. . . you might sue him for breach of contract. A madwoman has no agency. She is, after all, mad.
Bonnie, I was talking about this happening in the Victorian age. Not now.
I'm afraid you sound as if you're another woman who has taken one too many of the gender studies classes. I steered very far clear of them, myself.
I was always too smart to be lured into feminism. I could see what they were doing. It was just another neo-Marxist ideology meant to destroy.
But they couldn't present it that way, could they? Had to be presented as if it was the enlightened, superior, progressive thing to be...😁. Had to engage the vanities! That's the main trick of con-artists everywhere. They certainly do not announce upfront they are intending to dupe you.
C'mon Bonnie....you knew that, didn't you?
Okay, A.A., before you shuttle me off to get lost in Carl Jung, explain how feminism is "just another neo-Marxist ideology meant to destroy." To me, that implies that you think Western civilization was just fine before Marxist criticism of capitalism and before women expanded their role in society beyond wife and mother.
Hmmm, you mean that all it takes?
Well....once upon a time.
Lol
only man I know who got smarter after a stroke
lmao, good one..
Based on responses probably my best one. Lol
Biden is sharp as a tack.
<applause>
He has/d aphasia. It is a speech and language disruption, following stroke in the areas of the brain that control speech and language. Look it up people. Clearly, he worked incredibly hard to recover from it, and people can get depressed at feeling alienated by their difficulty communicating. Maybe the NYT should call and talk to the American Speech Language and Hearing Association or the Aphasiology Association. This is a disorder that’s been known to mankind as long as man has been around. But that would be doing their homework being responsible and that’s something that’s just beyond the scope of the New York Times these days.
They don't seriously believe he's got mental health issues. They are simply beginning the process of getting rid of a free thinker who they thought was in the bag for their leftist insanity.
But, that would require those dullards at NYT to do primary research ..
Waving the Israeli flag from the rooftop of his Batman-villian warehouse home was cool and normal, but considering voting for Pete Hegseth is clear indication of a mental health crisis.
Actually the pro-Pali wing of the Dem party (i.e. most of it) didn't like it at all. I didn't worry about whether it was "normal" but I thought it was definitely cool.
Kind of a hint who rules...
I only trust the neurological expertise of George Clooney.
Expertise that in George's case seems to be an intense empirical study of the effects of the axillary region on the olfactory bulb.
Now, that’s what I mean!
"Man, political analysis is getting weird in this country…"
You spelled, "the news media are rabid partisan pieces of shit" wrong.
So considering voting for Hegseth warrants serious condideration of brain damage.
When or where was there ever this type of analysis of Biden before the debate debacle? In his case, even speculating about his mental status was considered a step short of treason.
Looks like political "asylums" might not be far away.
What’s that saying about how when everyone is crazy, it’s the sane folks who appear out of their minds?
I guess when the (apparent) majority has TDS, they likely see those who don’t as insane.
Moreover, didn’t O’Brien explain to Winston that he was insane when he believed 2+2=4?
How does anyone take the NYT seriously
My cat Dottie does. She craps on the paper in her little cat box everyday. Good she can’t read..
I'm glad you posted this. I read it earlier, belies belief. They just have to smear and destroy people who show any signs of independent or critical thinking. Not to mention a rather profound recovery from a stroke. Disgusting people. Maybe he will hop off that crazy clown car and join the rest of us!
Not a chance