10 responses to “And Now the News — 10/1”

1. 

   granville

   10/01/2025

   I was there when border patrol agents dressed like 6 year olds at a ninja themed birthday party (but holding very real machine guns) marched past my favorite dog park on Sunday. That itself is a surreal sentence.

   A few people cursed them out, which to be honest felt kind of ridiculous, because it showed the total asymmetry of power at work right now. One side does what it wants and tells you to consider yourself lucky they’re not going as far as they want to go, at least not yet. And the other side records them saying this in a vertical video adding “See how they are?!” as if this somehow exposes them. We’re still operating under the illusion that we can “expose” them, and that recording them doing evil, and even saying openly “We are evil” will shock the populace, when in fact it’s giving the majority exactly what they want.

   Trump said in his Temu George Patton address to the troops that he is surprised he’s getting so little fury and rage directed at him and that the Left has given up. Some people see that as bait but I think he’s right. This is a pretty humiliating moment. Some months ago I watched this from Vivek Chibber about the first time the working class was seduced by fascism and man am I feeling that:

   https://youtu.be/kE8K9w3-b9U?si=4d23tkrJm6Loe831&t=334

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      10/01/2025

      Whoa, that video is long, movie-length, and I’ve only just started watching, but I’m laughing even at the into moments.

      “Academia and NGOs. These are the two sectors that control the left now. It’s a dead left.”

      I’m not laughing because it’s funny. It’s not. But it’s been so long since I’ve heard truth spoken plainly in what looks to be a talk show format, the joy of laughter is inexplicably my first response. Maybe that’s a psycho symptom, I dunno, but I’m still laughing, and of course, watching the rest of it.

      I do think and often say, There’s no left in America. There are leftists like you and me, but there’s no organized left working toward leftist goals. Closest we’re allowed is the Democratic Party, which is a $200 cab ride from the left.

      I’m hoping Vivek Chibber (never heard of him before, but ain’t that one of the all-time great names?) will have something to say about this that’s as frickin’ spot on as your second paragraph.

      See, that’s the deal in civilized discourse. Both sides are supposed to present their evidence, hoping to sway enough people to change an election or alter the power structure in some way. All those poor schnooks filming ICE with their phones held vertical, and me publishing links to the videos, we’re doing what we’re supposed to do for a civilized discourse. We’re presenting evidence. But of course, the other side isn’t playing that game at all.

      Denied civilized discourse, I believe there’s no hope whatsoever. ‘Normal’ gets constantly crazier and crueler, with no hope of talking anyone out of it through evidence or empathy or such quaint concepts. We are stuck in this Republican hellhole until someone somewhere on the left rises up, and gets us organized working toward leftist goals. By which I don’t mean carrying pickets and holding cell phones.

      Reply
      1. 

         granville

         10/01/2025

         lol yeah, I like what I’ve heard of Chibber so far, but like you I’m not sure that the 90 minute podcast format is something I can bother with most of the time. When he criticizes the overly academic jargon that leftists often put out, he gets away with it because his own speech is very plain spoken and often hilarious. That particular episode of a podcast (I haven’t watched any others, most of the guests seem very “online”) is one of my favorites, he’s sprinkled so many polished gems throughout.

         You’re spot on, and this is one hell of a crisis. They’ve set the rulebook on fire and we’re stomping on the flames because heavens we don’t know what to do without knowing what rules to follow.

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         1. 

            Doug Holland

            10/02/2025

            That podcast is much better listened to than watched. The host’s emphatic facial expressions while listening are comically earnest, like a parody of a talk show host.

            Yeah, I like Chibber because he’s plain spoken, and I tried listening to his own podcast, Confronting Capitalism. But, nah. Some chick hosts and interviews Chibber, when I’d really rather hear Chibber. And like most humans, even Chibber isn’t worth concentrating on every word, every sentence and paragraph, for an hour.

            Reading works better for me, and that’s why I’ve given up on podcasts. Used to have a regular surf cycle of dozens that I listened to regularly, but one by one they all fell off the list. Now there’s no list, and life is podcast-free.

            Watching or listening to a podcast, I require near-ceaseless non-boredom or my mind wanders, but even the best podcasts (like Citations Needed) tend to fall short, eventually. Though I’m listening to that show now, and haven’t clicked it off yet…

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            1. 

               granville

               10/03/2025

               I’ve noticed that about hosts. I heard that David Mamet was on a podcast recently and flipped out while trying to be a tough guy. It was the one time the over-empathic host schtick worked, because it had the effect of making Mamet’s old white guy rage seem even more ridiculous against such a soft-spoken and gentle person:

               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be62DXxpgq0

               (Admittedly the podcast is called “Talk Easy” and being like a gay Terri Gross is probably the whole point, but I wouldn’t be able to watch any other episode that didn’t have a poseur jagoff wigging out like this one did.)

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               1. 

                  Doug Holland

                  10/05/2025

                  Listening now, thanks. Dude looks way different than I’d pictured him, but sounds just as stupid as he is. Looking forward to the flip-out…

                  Reply
               2. 

                  Doug Holland

                  10/05/2025

                  Q: “As a kid, did you find any value growing up in Chicago, in the classroom?”

                  A: “No! Did anybody?”

                  What a head-throbbingly stupid thing for a writer to say. He was educated in Chicago Public Schools, and now shits on them, and maybe/probably Chicago schools suck, but — no value? It’s where he learned to read and write. That’s of absolute and lifelong value.

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               3. 

                  Doug Holland

                  10/05/2025

                  Enjoyed the heck out of that, thanks.

                  David Mamet is an intelligent, articulate asshole who’s written some very good stuff.

                  The host, Sam Fragoso, wants to be reasonable, and becomes unreasonable in his pursuit of reasonable. Meaning, W T F is he apologizing for after the “punch in the head” bit?

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                  1. 

                     granville

                     10/05/2025

                     Yeah I’m not a theater guy so my opinion has a weight of zero, but I’ll never not enjoy “Glengarry Glen Ross.” It’s so oddly revealing, about salesmen, about capitalism, about men’s ambition and need to feel dominant over other men.

                     I’ve never felt like I need to “cancel” the work of people whose views are abhorrent or do horrible things. Struggling with it makes it more interesting. In Mamet’s case I figured awhile ago that he’s been playing a role, it’s that cynical Chicago tough guy, he doesn’t love the police but thinks if you’re being a jagoff then you can’t expect the police not to crack your head open. It’s baked into his work. I see this guy all the time.

                     But like a lot of aging people playing a role, he’s become trapped in it. He’s just a jumble of nervous thoughts that he can’t keep track of while hiding behind this tough guy pose. Trump is great because he said “Fight Fight Fight” (you can back me up, that’s literally his argument). Everyone is an anti-semite, and he rails against Ivy League elitists while boasting of having taught at “every Ivy League school.”

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                     1. 

                        Doug Holland

                        10/06/2025

                        Anyone who supports Trump is either an idiot or a rat bastard or both, and Mamet’s both, but same as you I’ll never not love Glengarry Glen Ross. Bit of a pity that the author doesn’t get the point, but oh well.

                        He’s a victim of his own success, but so damned rich and respected he’ll never know it.

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