You asked and answered a big question. Brilliant essay. I’m a happy subscriber!
Life on this planet has been hard for so many. Yet it may get better as innovation overcomes obstacles. I’m an optimist but I weep for those in pain. At 85 I have no way to change the world.
Everything moves in a cycle from chaos to order and back again. Too much order invites chaos. Too much disorder begs an ordering.
Putin, Trump, and the other madmen authoritarians have realized that by injecting enough additional chaos they can create the space to organize their own new toxic order.
To your point: LB made the point on the show last night that the purpose of the disorder is criminality, which does require order. But I find this frame very helpful in thinking about the world now.
I mean, Biden has done everything he can do to rein in Bibi. Including, this week, leaking that the US want him out. He is not also the prime minister of Israel.
Rather than trying to lay blame, there are so many who are to blame, coming to grips with the problem solvers is essential. While the Putins and Bannons are the merchants of darkness the real danger is the voters who may put 45 back in the Oval, a disaster of biblical proportions. What motivates these average, everyday Americans?
Figuring this out must be the only focus. Saying they are left behind, angry is a reality. This can be traced to firstly to Nixon then Reagan truly supercharged the widening of the gap that makes these people feel so left behind. Biden's recent rural speech tries to give context and hope but until he gains their trust his words fall on deaf ears. His well intended actions, the Inflation Reduction Act will help these folks but it moves so slowly, the good imperceptible. Joe's style is to speak like your grandfather, wisdom from someone of age, an experienced old hand. This gets drowned out by one tweet on X, shared disinformation on Facebook. Forget Truth Social, no one takes it seriously.
Who is the savior? Strangely I believe it to be the new kid on the block, one Michael Johnson. Gym Jordan the MTGs and peodo Gaetz are all mouth, no real action. Kevin McCarthy a joke, when he kissed 45's ring he was done. MJ's very aggressive and completely out of touch legislative agenda gives Hakeem and Chuck something to point to, to label evil in a way 45's followers can grasp. Call MJ the Tommy T of the House. TT's antics do rub 45's followers the wrong way. Hakeem better to take the lead than the staid Chuck who needs to manage the Senate. Hakeem's fire and brimstone approach will get the dissent voters attention, he needs to become the central Democrat figurehead with 46 being what he is, old reliable.
Am I grasping at straws? Yes but in desperate times out of the box thinking is called for. Dems, elevate Hakeem as your key spokesperson and let Joe do what he does best, get things done. Hell, even Kamala is starting to look good in a support role. She fits in nicely between old Joe and new Hakeem. The three need to paint MJ for what he is, a whack job so far on the extreme that Joe's steady hand looks desirable.
The starters gun has sounded. One year to DDay. Time is of the essence.
There's a very strange likeness in the self-satisfied smile that MJ is wearing these days and that of George Santos. It's not quite a smirk, but it's almost as if they are saying without words, "Hey, look at me. Look what I've done." Both are whack jobs, in my opinion. Well, as for that, you've put together almost a roll call of whack jobs in your analysis. Hakeem won't have to look far for inspiration as a spokesperson.
Good call, Ellen. It's like they themselves can't believe their own dumb luck.
When your entire party exists to serve the interest of Putin and the criminal autocrats, you're evil, amoral, or a whack job. No one with a shred of decency can support these people and their positions.
Thanks for this, which is a cogent read on things. I will add that voters -- and research shows this -- don't actually give a crap about accomplishments, unless they affect them personally. And most of the wedge issues don't. It's all about the narrative. You're right, MJ is like an evil Fred Rogers, and his agenda is so egregiously awful, maybe people will see it. Maybe.
If there's one lesson we can draw from democracy, it's that people love voting agaist their own self-interest...
MJ a savior? You lost me there. MJ was instrumental in pushing the Big Lie. He is all for Christian Fundamentalism. He is anti-abortion, anti LBGTQ & anti Democracy.
Irony. By being so obviously far right, he gives Dems the perfect contrast, so much so that they may get through to 45's followers. Wishful thinking? Maybe
Thanks for clarifying! Hopefully you’re right, but 45’s followers seem hopelessly completely deluded. Their information bubble bounces out anything they don’t want to hear. I’m counting on the old guard dying out and the youngsters energized to vote. (I’ve read that 70% of the Millenials, Gen X, & later groups are liberal. 🤞🤞🤞🤞
Do you think influential national media, like NYT for instance, understand this and are refusing to raise awareness of it because they benefit more from focusing on daily clicks?. Or do you think they’re aware and deliberately not reporting on it because they believe the deepening chaos will benefit them? What do you believe is their calculation in refusing to enlighten the populace?
The NYT and others want to continue to appear "non-partisan" in their coverage. This involves some pretzel-like logic and reporting, but they seem desperate to keep their status quo. I think they KNOW what's going on, but their "non-partisan," "both sides are to blame" attitudes carry the day for them. I lost respect for the NYT a long time ago. They may be still called, "The Paper of Record," but publications like that, with the reach and influence they have, are as much to blame for our current crisis of confidence as the chaos agents in Congress.
I think the NYT is not a monolith. They have reporters on the ground, investigative journalists, etc., doing excellent work. They have a lousy op-ed page. And the editors, who call the shots on what to print, how to frame, the headlines, etc., are almost universally trash. There is a lot of inertia in newsrooms. It's not an industry that is quick to change. And the world is changing very quickly right now.
On balance, over the last 8 years, NYT has done more harm than good, but it's almost a wash. Fixing this requires -- I must borrow a Jared word -- a paradign shift. They are not ready for that.
"If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim,'" a quote attributed to LBJ. That's our news media!
One good thing I read this morning is that the likelihood of Putin being dead has gone from 15% to 25%, per sources in the Russian Oligarchy. Apparently, all we're waiting for is the Russian State TV stations to play "Swan Lake."
On the other hand, would Russia and the rest of the world actually, truly KNOW if he were gone? I've also heard that Putin has body doubles and stand-ins, which sounds like a stupid conspiracy theory, but if it were true, would we ever actually know for sure that his evil ass was dead? Too much to think about.
One of the tabloids said he had a heart attack while in the throes of passion with a zaftig Only Fans model. I doubt that's true, but who knows? The photos do LOOK like body doubles, but that seems really hard to pull off.
He has to croak at some point. Come get your guy, Satan.
Oops! Forgot this. I found something called "Project 2025," a conservative think-tank agenda for the U.S., and find the whole idea horrifying. If this doesn't get people to the polls to vote BLUE, nothing will.
The following link is to their what I'm calling "terrorist manifesto." Don't try to read the whole thing because these freaks have made it a 920-page book, but just the Forward, starting on page 33, will suffice, and their "Four Promises." I haven't managed to bring myself to go further than that. https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
Yes, it's ridiculous how much they write down and expect you to read! In that book, just the Forward and the Table of Contents gave me some chills I haven't had in a long time.
An alternative partial understanding that I've been trying to promote for ages is that the GOP for at least the last 40 years has been successfully immiserating the populace while scapegoating the opposition. We have merely come to the extreme logical conclusion of this technique, and are seeing it applied internationally. (As Nazis applied Dixie eugenics).
I agree, Andrew. And the data bears this out. Wages have been flat since I entered the workforce, even as all the economic indicators are swell. We've not going to survive unless the Elon Musks and Bezoses pay their fair share. Re-do the tax code. If they don't pay, or if they wanna avoid taxes using offshores, kick them out.
Wow, what a podcast, Greg. Jason Pack brought me to a better understanding of where we are today; though he did make me realize how little I know about the Middle East. Still, too, I was heartened to hear him explain how important Ukraine is and that we must not abandon them. Many thanks.
BTW, watched the Five/8 after hours. It was great.
Unbeknownst to me, my subscription expired the beginning of October. I only found at after seeing that there was no charge on my credit card. Is there a way to have it not expire?
An alien species might logically conclude that the more a human had, the less they’d want. But we don’t seem to work that way. The more obscenely wealthy a man is, the more money and power he seems to crave. And the more power he has, the more he seeks to limit the power of others. Chaos is an effective tool, no? (I’m not qualified to speculate whether women, when obscenely wealthy, react similarly.)
It's all a madness. And from what we've seen, women of great wealth are much better at giving it away. But then, so were the O.G. super wealthy from 100 years ago. Rockefeller invented modern philanthropy, to make distributing his wealth more efficient. Elon Musk just buys things to mash. Disgraceful.
Disorder comes soon enough. It is the default. The order of our lives is hard fought in the first place and hard to keep. Lose it at our peril…
Yes...it's easier to destroy than create.
Yep, Sam Rayburn told congress that decades ago, in his own folksy style
Chaos is innate. Order requires discipline. Thanks for all the thought-fish!
Excellent point, Meemaw.
You asked and answered a big question. Brilliant essay. I’m a happy subscriber!
Life on this planet has been hard for so many. Yet it may get better as innovation overcomes obstacles. I’m an optimist but I weep for those in pain. At 85 I have no way to change the world.
I salute you for trying. Good luck.
Billserle.com
"I'm an optimist but I weep for those in pain." Perfectly put, Bill. Thank you!
Many seniors are still active in trying to make the world a better place 😉
I try weekly.
Everything moves in a cycle from chaos to order and back again. Too much order invites chaos. Too much disorder begs an ordering.
Putin, Trump, and the other madmen authoritarians have realized that by injecting enough additional chaos they can create the space to organize their own new toxic order.
To your point: LB made the point on the show last night that the purpose of the disorder is criminality, which does require order. But I find this frame very helpful in thinking about the world now.
I just heard it was Biden's fault this week from family. 🤦♀️
Looking forward to listening today!
People are just...SMH.
I mean, Biden has done everything he can do to rein in Bibi. Including, this week, leaking that the US want him out. He is not also the prime minister of Israel.
There is no changing their views, their hate of others consumes them.
I've quit trying and sadly we become more distant because of their gop lifestyle.
Rather than trying to lay blame, there are so many who are to blame, coming to grips with the problem solvers is essential. While the Putins and Bannons are the merchants of darkness the real danger is the voters who may put 45 back in the Oval, a disaster of biblical proportions. What motivates these average, everyday Americans?
Figuring this out must be the only focus. Saying they are left behind, angry is a reality. This can be traced to firstly to Nixon then Reagan truly supercharged the widening of the gap that makes these people feel so left behind. Biden's recent rural speech tries to give context and hope but until he gains their trust his words fall on deaf ears. His well intended actions, the Inflation Reduction Act will help these folks but it moves so slowly, the good imperceptible. Joe's style is to speak like your grandfather, wisdom from someone of age, an experienced old hand. This gets drowned out by one tweet on X, shared disinformation on Facebook. Forget Truth Social, no one takes it seriously.
Who is the savior? Strangely I believe it to be the new kid on the block, one Michael Johnson. Gym Jordan the MTGs and peodo Gaetz are all mouth, no real action. Kevin McCarthy a joke, when he kissed 45's ring he was done. MJ's very aggressive and completely out of touch legislative agenda gives Hakeem and Chuck something to point to, to label evil in a way 45's followers can grasp. Call MJ the Tommy T of the House. TT's antics do rub 45's followers the wrong way. Hakeem better to take the lead than the staid Chuck who needs to manage the Senate. Hakeem's fire and brimstone approach will get the dissent voters attention, he needs to become the central Democrat figurehead with 46 being what he is, old reliable.
Am I grasping at straws? Yes but in desperate times out of the box thinking is called for. Dems, elevate Hakeem as your key spokesperson and let Joe do what he does best, get things done. Hell, even Kamala is starting to look good in a support role. She fits in nicely between old Joe and new Hakeem. The three need to paint MJ for what he is, a whack job so far on the extreme that Joe's steady hand looks desirable.
The starters gun has sounded. One year to DDay. Time is of the essence.
I agree. Hakeem, who is VERY intelligent, tells it like it is. He does not dwell in BS. He's ready.
There's a very strange likeness in the self-satisfied smile that MJ is wearing these days and that of George Santos. It's not quite a smirk, but it's almost as if they are saying without words, "Hey, look at me. Look what I've done." Both are whack jobs, in my opinion. Well, as for that, you've put together almost a roll call of whack jobs in your analysis. Hakeem won't have to look far for inspiration as a spokesperson.
Good call, Ellen. It's like they themselves can't believe their own dumb luck.
When your entire party exists to serve the interest of Putin and the criminal autocrats, you're evil, amoral, or a whack job. No one with a shred of decency can support these people and their positions.
Thanks for this, which is a cogent read on things. I will add that voters -- and research shows this -- don't actually give a crap about accomplishments, unless they affect them personally. And most of the wedge issues don't. It's all about the narrative. You're right, MJ is like an evil Fred Rogers, and his agenda is so egregiously awful, maybe people will see it. Maybe.
If there's one lesson we can draw from democracy, it's that people love voting agaist their own self-interest...
Sad but true, voters can be the moth to the flame. This from childhood, don't touch the stove its hot
MJ a savior? You lost me there. MJ was instrumental in pushing the Big Lie. He is all for Christian Fundamentalism. He is anti-abortion, anti LBGTQ & anti Democracy.
Irony. By being so obviously far right, he gives Dems the perfect contrast, so much so that they may get through to 45's followers. Wishful thinking? Maybe
Thanks for clarifying! Hopefully you’re right, but 45’s followers seem hopelessly completely deluded. Their information bubble bounces out anything they don’t want to hear. I’m counting on the old guard dying out and the youngsters energized to vote. (I’ve read that 70% of the Millenials, Gen X, & later groups are liberal. 🤞🤞🤞🤞
Do you think influential national media, like NYT for instance, understand this and are refusing to raise awareness of it because they benefit more from focusing on daily clicks?. Or do you think they’re aware and deliberately not reporting on it because they believe the deepening chaos will benefit them? What do you believe is their calculation in refusing to enlighten the populace?
The NYT and others want to continue to appear "non-partisan" in their coverage. This involves some pretzel-like logic and reporting, but they seem desperate to keep their status quo. I think they KNOW what's going on, but their "non-partisan," "both sides are to blame" attitudes carry the day for them. I lost respect for the NYT a long time ago. They may be still called, "The Paper of Record," but publications like that, with the reach and influence they have, are as much to blame for our current crisis of confidence as the chaos agents in Congress.
"Investigating Trump, FBI Sees No Ties to Russia"
I think the NYT is not a monolith. They have reporters on the ground, investigative journalists, etc., doing excellent work. They have a lousy op-ed page. And the editors, who call the shots on what to print, how to frame, the headlines, etc., are almost universally trash. There is a lot of inertia in newsrooms. It's not an industry that is quick to change. And the world is changing very quickly right now.
On balance, over the last 8 years, NYT has done more harm than good, but it's almost a wash. Fixing this requires -- I must borrow a Jared word -- a paradign shift. They are not ready for that.
"If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim,'" a quote attributed to LBJ. That's our news media!
One good thing I read this morning is that the likelihood of Putin being dead has gone from 15% to 25%, per sources in the Russian Oligarchy. Apparently, all we're waiting for is the Russian State TV stations to play "Swan Lake."
On the other hand, would Russia and the rest of the world actually, truly KNOW if he were gone? I've also heard that Putin has body doubles and stand-ins, which sounds like a stupid conspiracy theory, but if it were true, would we ever actually know for sure that his evil ass was dead? Too much to think about.
One of the tabloids said he had a heart attack while in the throes of passion with a zaftig Only Fans model. I doubt that's true, but who knows? The photos do LOOK like body doubles, but that seems really hard to pull off.
He has to croak at some point. Come get your guy, Satan.
Oops! Forgot this. I found something called "Project 2025," a conservative think-tank agenda for the U.S., and find the whole idea horrifying. If this doesn't get people to the polls to vote BLUE, nothing will.
www.project2025.org
The following link is to their what I'm calling "terrorist manifesto." Don't try to read the whole thing because these freaks have made it a 920-page book, but just the Forward, starting on page 33, will suffice, and their "Four Promises." I haven't managed to bring myself to go further than that. https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
One thing I hate about the bad guys is all the assigned reading...
But seriously, thanks for this, Steve. I have to dig into it.
Yes, it's ridiculous how much they write down and expect you to read! In that book, just the Forward and the Table of Contents gave me some chills I haven't had in a long time.
Apparently, it's a thing, Steve. Woe is us. Vote Blue, indeed.
Apart from being smart Hakeem speaks on all levels and can adapt and appeal to multiple audiences
Hakeem is awesome.
An alternative partial understanding that I've been trying to promote for ages is that the GOP for at least the last 40 years has been successfully immiserating the populace while scapegoating the opposition. We have merely come to the extreme logical conclusion of this technique, and are seeing it applied internationally. (As Nazis applied Dixie eugenics).
I agree, Andrew. And the data bears this out. Wages have been flat since I entered the workforce, even as all the economic indicators are swell. We've not going to survive unless the Elon Musks and Bezoses pay their fair share. Re-do the tax code. If they don't pay, or if they wanna avoid taxes using offshores, kick them out.
Wow, what a podcast, Greg. Jason Pack brought me to a better understanding of where we are today; though he did make me realize how little I know about the Middle East. Still, too, I was heartened to hear him explain how important Ukraine is and that we must not abandon them. Many thanks.
Thanks, Lynell. He's brilliant. I recommend listening to him on Arthur Snell's podcast, and also the Disorder podcast.
Will do, Greg.
BTW, watched the Five/8 after hours. It was great.
Unbeknownst to me, my subscription expired the beginning of October. I only found at after seeing that there was no charge on my credit card. Is there a way to have it not expire?
Putins revenge against those responsible
for the "fall of the wall."
Attacking the "US export of democracy. "
Reagan's NED.
"1984"
Chaos is order.
WELCOME TO OCEANIA
I LOVE BIG BROTHER!
Thanks, Greg, for this at such a tough time. It’s clearly a 🫖 kind of day, and pretty complex. I’ll read tomorrow. The good news is... 👍🏼
Thanks, Steven.
An alien species might logically conclude that the more a human had, the less they’d want. But we don’t seem to work that way. The more obscenely wealthy a man is, the more money and power he seems to crave. And the more power he has, the more he seeks to limit the power of others. Chaos is an effective tool, no? (I’m not qualified to speculate whether women, when obscenely wealthy, react similarly.)
It's all a madness. And from what we've seen, women of great wealth are much better at giving it away. But then, so were the O.G. super wealthy from 100 years ago. Rockefeller invented modern philanthropy, to make distributing his wealth more efficient. Elon Musk just buys things to mash. Disgraceful.
The image that keeps coming to mind is a tribe of tantruming two-year-olds turned loose in the block center armed with plastic bats--