lost highway

Exactly. The cliched "Can't we let the families grieve before we politicize' argument (which doesn't make sense for many reasons) was countered in a meme that I saw. It had the faces of the Sandy Hook victims and said that if we can't talk about gun control until people have had time to grieve the Florida massacre, then maybe it's been sufficient time to talk about it in the context of Sandy Hook. The real point is, it's not the worthlessness of our arguments, it's how short-lived they are. Our news cycle is wiped out by Trump scandals every week or so. When was the last time you heard someo

Don't give up, Kevin. You're a good dude.

Well at least John Smith is trying to get things right.

So it turns out the shooter has links to white supremacist groups. Another reminder that extremist whit nationalism is just as dangerous as extremist Islamic ideologies. In fact, I gather in this country it's statistically more dangerous.

Seriously. What a bunch of disingenuous hot wind from a bunch of people who sold their humanity to an industry and a pointless mythology.

So I've been thinking about this: the immigration debate by every indication is coming down to a kind of Sophie's choice for democrats. Will they accept a wall in exchange for DACA? Every time this trade has come up in the news cognitive dissonance has made me stop thinking about it. Maybe there's some other way for it to go down, but that might just be it. Obviously the moral answer is yes, but it's a tough pill to swallow. It would be such an expensive, ignorant, and disgusting symbol to his perception of success.

He went with the more likely looking-corrupt-for-not-releasing-the-memo, approach. I think the suits call this "bad optics". In other news, I won't be the first to point out that the party of fiscal responsibility passed a tax bill that adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit, and followed it with a $400 billion spending bill edging us very close to an even $2 trillion of new debt. Most economists agree that it will have a modest boost for GDP, but that's a tiny fraction of the magical number the white house invented for growth projections.

You mean the one with the acerbic wit? That was on Mirror Traffic, which I kind of remember feeling kind of B- about. There was Wig Out at Jag Bags after that, which for whatever reason I don't remember at all. Love that guy. 'Flag Decal' is still socially relevant today.

Just noticed this. Thanks for sharing. This is another from their "smooth jam" side. I like it. Lot's of space.

On top of the stock market plunge, now the House panel has approved the Democrats rebuttal memo. Trump has to decide if he wants to be seen silencing information, or if he's going to let another side of the story come out. Not that the original memo really helped him all that much.

The best part of Trump saying it "totally vindicates" him is it allows any of us who read the memo, or even carefully read about the memo to know more than he does on the topic. And Trump was the one who released it. I know more than the president about the memo he released, because as you said it's 6 pages long which is beyond his current reading comprehension level.

I'd say it's not quite a nothing burger, and not for the reasons the GOP intended. The memo shows that they were able to renew their surveillance through the FISA court multiple times. According to law they had to present evidence that the initial warrant was yielding evidence of illegal activity or they couldn't renew it. So now they've published a memo proving that the courts have evidence of wrongdoing. It also shows that the warrant wasn't gotten on the problematic Steele dossier alone, but also on evidence against Papadopolous, and since he's already been indicted we know that was a sub

It's so interesting the way the Fed as a power has entered into the checks and balances ecology. Watching Oliver Stone's "The Untold History of the United States", it was easy to see how the growth of our intelligence agencies in the McCarthy era was a way for Executive power to increase in an underhanded and immoral way. Now intelligence agencies are functioning as our primary safeguard against the perversion of power by the Executive Office (the same one that originally empowered them). Power is always a double edged sword in politics. This is some Game of Thrones shit.

My co-workers and I were discussing if it's better to watch it and see the spectacle/keep track of the national conversation, or better to skip it and not give the pig better ratings.

I think he knows better than to place his trust in McConnell. He's pretty wily (although many will say the stop gap spending bill was another example of the democrat wuss-out). Chuck plays to appearances, he knows the game. There are oh so many ways your prediction will come true. Things are just bizarre enough in politics right now- we might both be pleasantly surprised by how wrong you are, but it sure feels like a snowball in hell right now.

My daughter and I dropped off my wife and her friend in downtown Denver. Last year both of the girls in my family marched, but alas our little Edie is a toddler and hasn't the patience to be worn like a backpack. It sounds like it was a pretty big display with some positive vibes, solidarity and everything you'd want out of such a political occasion. Favorite sign she spotted: "Tweet people how you want to be tweeted".

Feist has done a nice version too. Great song, love all the mentioned versions, but never heard the Lucius one.

Again, I feel prompted to say: It's not just that I think his agenda is odious. For those that share his agenda, he keeps doing stupid shit that makes what he's trying to do harder for him (which I think is Bannon's problem with him). So we hate him for what he wants, but shouldn't the other side hate him for being horribly inept at accomplishing what he wants? To be more specific, if you wanted to prevail in a difficult immigration discussion, wouldn't saying horrible shit that motivates your opposition and embarrasses your peers be the worst possible choice?

Yeah, the letter beautifully backs peoples' assertions earlier that any agreements Bannon signed have no relevance over Wolff's work, or as I remember the letter put it, "The law treats Mr. Bannon as an adult... and it is his responsibility to honor any contractual obligations." Funnest lawyer letter ever.

I'm reading "Your Band Sucks, What I Saw in Indie Rocks Failed Revolution But Can No Longer Here". I haven't gotten to 'the problem with music' section of the book. So far it's teenage reminiscences about playing in the underground during the author's college years in the 80's.

Dark, the new(ish) series on Netflix. It's like if Stranger Things is an amazing graphic novel, Dark is an amazing novel. Science fiction all grown up with pacing, subtlety, layered characters, the whole nine yards. One disclaimer, it's a German show and apparently Netflix decided we're all idiots so it defaults to the dubbed version. You have to go into languages to switch it back to the original German and get some English subtitles, unless of course you are bilingual in a way that I am not.

So Clinton is still under investigation by the FBI. Man, I can't wait for the 2016 election to be irrelevant. The more we learn the longer that seems like it's going to take.

^ I have to wonder if this is a further splintering of the far right. Does Bannon have the pull to take people with him? Or is this merely a regrouping away from him? Are Trump and McConnell going to become best friends?

Interesting. Thanks. This bodes well for Wolff and his book.

^ Good point. The name of the game in any book like this is research, and good research is their strongest legal defense. According to wikipedia (can everyone tell I'm sitting at the shop waiting to get my brakes done?) for it to be libel it has to be false, harmful, and without adequate research. Takes all three to prove defamation against a public official. Perhaps the more important question is if the alleged Non Disclosure would only affect Bannon for what he shared, or also the writer with whom he shared it. Don't think I'll get that one off wikipedia.