I like my analysis better. 

34 minutes ago, TMoney said:

the subsequent bailouts, and the uneven distribution of the fruits of the recovery.

So it is basically all Larry Summers' fault.

I actually think the Frontline analysis is wishful thinking and that Stretch's view is, sadly, closer to the truth. I think it is a race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious backlash. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/600/will-i-know-anyone-at-this-party

 

^ Ding, ding, ding. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The linked TAL will send shivers down your spine. It is one of the most horrifying things I have heard in a long time.

Oddly, I don't think Trump has any fealty to these issues other than an early recognition that he could ride them to power. I also don't think he has any aversion to them.

Set my clock back 300 years.

56 minutes ago, dsavitsk said:

So it is basically all Larry Summers' fault.

I actually think the Frontline analysis is wishful thinking and that Stretch's view is, sadly, closer to the truth. I think it is a race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious backlash. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/600/will-i-know-anyone-at-this-party

All that is also mentioned in the Frontline Doc, I just didn't mention it.

Will give the TAL episode a listen when I get a chance.

50 minutes ago, dsavitsk said:

The linked TAL will send shivers down your spine. It is one of the most horrifying things I have heard in a long time.

Oddly, I don't think Trump has any fealty to these issues other than an early recognition that he could ride them to power. I also don't think he has any aversion to them.

This is what worries me.  If he got in on the rhetoric, but also brought in qualified staff that didn't necessarily support these views, I wouldn't worry so much.  But, he's brought in people who have their agendas, and many of them revolve around making a profit, or extending their own extreme agendas, out of his term as president.  And he doesn't seem to care.

3 hours ago, TMoney said:

I was watching the latest Frontline special last night (a retrospective look at the last 8 years of the Obama presidency) and one of the theories Frontline put forward was that a lot of the roots of the explosion of populism and populist rage can be traced to the 2008 recession, the subsequent bailouts, and the uneven distribution of the fruits of the recovery.

It actually made a lot of sense.

I'll post more on it once I finish watching. It a 4 hour long program.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/divided-states-of-america/

But then why did they elect Trump?  All he cares about is the 1%...

Me:  slept, shivered -- I think I have a fever

Hacked Fireworks?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4141030/Trump-firework-display-appears-spell-USR-instead-USA.html

https://www.rt.com/viral/374309-usr-trump-fireworks-inauguration/

 

Edited January 20, 20179 yr by Grahame

16 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

But then why did they elect Trump?  All he cares about is the 1%...

I'll say this, for people who wanted a Washington outsider they definitely got one.

Do we even know who he cares about?

3 minutes ago, TMoney said:

I'll say this, for people who wanted a Washington outsider they definitely got one.

Do we even know who he cares about?

No, that was entirely guesswork.

Someone posted elsewhere -- if you want change, you don't put rat poison in your coffee.

IMO it's all related to the dumbing down of America. And it's no accident. 

Our schools do not educate anymore. They teach children to achieve good tests scores.

Uneducated people don't make educated choices.

Uneducated masses can be easily swayed through doom and gloom tactics. 

Throw in a good old fashioned propaganda campaign orchestrated by Putin, as the cherry on top, and you have a successful Presidential campaign.

An uneducated population also make good consumers.

Yes, this is an oversimplified view, but the way many in this Country rallied around a Vice Presidential candidate that was as dumb as a rock, was a very telling look into the future of the Republican Party (yes, I'm talking about you Sarah).

On a different note, about to leave the office early for the day and take the ferry in to SF for a little birthday dinner @ the Slanted Door with friends and family.

Damn I am feeling old today.

Edited January 20, 20179 yr by TMoney

I watched the - ahem - inaugural address. In the midst of a truly scary speech, there was this:

"And most importantly, we will be protected by God"

or, paraphrasing "Gott mit uns" (God with us), the German motto to justify war from the Prussian empire to the Third Reich. Worn on the spiked helmets in the First World War and on the belt buckles in the Second

Съ нами Богъ which translates the same (apparently)

 

IMO it's all related to the dumbing down of America. And it's no accident. 
Our schools do not educate anymore. They teach children to achieve good tests scores.
Uneducated people don't make educated choices.
Uneducated masses can be easily swayed through doom and gloom tactics. 
Throw in a good old fashioned propaganda campaign orchestrated by Putin, as the cherry on top, and you have a successful Presidential campaign.
An uneducated population also make good consumers.
Yes, this is an oversimplified view, but the way many in this Country rallied around a Vice Presidential candidate that was as dumb as a rock, was a very telling look into the future of the Republican Party (yes, I'm talking about you Sarah).

Sarah Palin seeing Russia from her porch. I can't believe I missed this foreshadowing.

**BRENT**

On a different note, about to leave the office early for the day and take the ferry in to SF for a little birthday dinner @ the Slanted Door with friends and family.
Damn I am feeling old today.

Hitting the big 4-oh(ish) has got to be traumatic.

**BRENT**

15 minutes ago, MexicanDragon said:

Sarah Palin seeing Russia from her porch. I can't believe I missed this foreshadowing.
 

I associate Sarah Palin with the birth of the Tea Party, as do many.

2 hours ago, TMoney said:

Do we even know who he cares about?

Of course we do.  He cares about Donald Trump.

20 hours ago, Dusty Chalk said:

Me:  slept, shivered -- I think I have a fever

Been eating nothing but chicken soup and drinking water, feeling better, but still sick.

Grilled some steaks on the deck in shorts, T-Shirt and sunglasses in January.  Not sure why the Illinois people claim Illinois winters are so difficult.

This kind of comment is why Jim is in Florida and cancelled his NY trip.

I heard a great quote about Trump from a colleague who recently briefed him.

"He doesn't really understand these issues with any depth, so he generally just agrees with the last person he spoke with."

My colleague was talking about the state of our involvement in Syria, but we might safely expand this to a number of interactions.

Ever sucked runny jello off a laptop keyboard?

Well, here we are.

8 minutes ago, aardvark baguette said:

Ever sucked runny jello off a laptop keyboard?

Well, here we are.

I would probably have chosen something else as a work surface.

Just went and saw Dave Chappelle. He's still good. No cellphones allowed, so no pix, but had a good center lower balcony seat at my favorite stage in Chattanooga.

**BRENT**

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Watching Super Bowl very lucky I turned it on about an hour ago and walked off because Comcast Internet and X1 platform (which allows channels to be changed etc) are down and should come back sometime after the game. I am unable to change channels but I have the right one on and I have my kid tethered to my work phone. So we are in business.