1. I'm finding little to argue about on this piece, so hopefully your time today will not be wasted on Internet randos like me. (No, Chris hasn't been kidnapped and is being ransomed for Bitcoin.)
2. All your Resurgent pieces are accessible to the public via the Wayback Machine. Example:
I literally just picked a time that I knew was before the First TV merger and found the first article with your name on it - so I'm glad you enjoyed the outcome of my Internet dice-rolling.
I didn't come around to reading your piece on Tucker Carlson until today. Like you, I don't watch Tucker Carlson regularly, and the only time I ever get around to listening to what he says, is if someone posts a clip of his on social media. I do agree that I find his style to be grating. I still remember back in the day when he was the sparring partner with the late Bob Novak, facing off against Paul Begala and James Carville at CNN for the show Crossfire. He seemed to be reasonable, and was very different than he is now. I remember him being against the Iraq War, but never seemed to have much in the way of grievance based populism in him. But other than that, I haven't really paid much attention otherwise. Therefore, I don't know much about this whole NSA controversy associated with him. My only take on this, is that I think it is reasonable that Tucker get a fair shake for him to prove his claims. I do think that the pushback you received in that piece you wrote prior, is kind of an instinctual reaction based on Tucker's more recent past of being at times very economical with the truth. That past explains why many aren't willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he otherwise would get. I do consider surveillance based wrongdoing by the NSA to be a serious matter, and a potential 4th amendment violation. So I'm for Tucker being able to press his case. If it turns out these assertions are baloney, or if Tucker is doing this for clickbait, then he deserves major blowback and scorn.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tucker doesn't believe half of the stuff he tells his audiences. His fanbase loves performative displays of "own the libs", and gravitate towards what David Thornton accurately referred to in the past as "outrage du jour". And Tucker is more than willing to deliver on that. It is no wonder why his show does as well as it does.
I also think that you don't have prove anything based on that last column you wrote on Tucker Carlson/NSA. I think most of us here(I certainly do) do appreciate your analysis and views on the issues, even when they differ with David and others. I would never confuse you for being a Trump or a Tucker sycophant, just because of these differences. As a Trump-skeptic conservative who didn't vote for Trump in both elections, we are often condemning the tribalism, and the penchant of many MAGA folks for living in an echo chamber, for the purposes of feeding their confirmation biases. The latter providing fuel for their preferred narratives, often untruthful. In that same vein, we as Trump-skeptics(whether non-Trump or reluctant Trump) are not immune from what plagues MAGAworld. I've seen and know personally some non-Trump individuals on the right jettison many of their beliefs they once had, because of Trump. The echo-chamber that reinforces tribalism could've been a reason why. I feel that reading yours and David's sometimes differing takes on an issue, along with other voices in the conservative movement and overall political spectrum, helps checks my own biases. It is a good bulwark against the temptations of tribalism and echo chambers.
Just to poke a bit of a hole: the Dems don't have a problem with voter ID as long as those IDs are provided to all voters at no-cost, and are relatively easy to get (within reasonable travel capabilities for someone without a driver license).
I appreciate the scare quotes around whistleblower in this piece: it'd be great if you went into some of the lack of evidence and credibility of the story.
Yeah all those poor Black rural people without access to a photocopier. Voter IDs are free in Georgia, and if you have a smartphone you don’t need a Kinkos. I’m waiting for VP Harris to complain that poor rural Blacks can find a fax machine or a decent payphone anymore. And the poor rural people are overwhelmingly white. They also voted for Trump. Yet there’s “Jim Crow” because of voter ID.
Steve: you brought race into this, not me. When it comes to costs, the race doesn't matter: either it's provided gratis, or it's a poll tax. It's good that GA offers a specific voter ID card for free: not all States that currently require a voter provide identification provide an ID free-of-cost, or have a dedicated Voter ID.
Also: whether GA or another state, you have to go to a physical location to get an ID. So, there needs be a location one can get said ID within a reasonable distance without driving.
Please let me know how the above is deserving of your ire.
"So, there needs be a location one can get said ID within a reasonable distance without driving."
If this is your standard, you're going to have a lot more ID offices than any other gov't office once you get into the Western states. Where I grew up, shopping for groceries was 30 minutes away, the nearest school was over 10 miles away, and you could easily go 60 miles in a direction where you still had people, but no post offices. Needless to say, NOTHING was a reasonable distance away without driving.
While I'm firmly on board with you and the idea that the gov't should bear the responsibility of getting IDs to voters if it is going to require those IDs to cast a ballot, the logistics of that effort deserve some deeper consideration beyond anyone should be able to walk to an official outpost and get an ID. (Which isn't workable either, once you figure in folks with physical disabilities.)
Maybe something worth considering would be a "bookmobile, but for voter identification" traveling outfit that made the rounds the months before Election Day that could bridge the physical gap for folks without ID.
We can utilize existing offices and personnel: for example, I submitted my first passport application at the local library and we submitted our daughter's at USPS.
That's one idea, and useful for those housebound or in areas where offices are too far away. Ideally, there'd be more frequent visits in areas where that's needed - primaries and local elections, not just General.
We were 30 miles from the nearest grocery store and at least 40 minutes from the nearest Walmart. NE Georgia sounds absolutely cosmopolitan by NM standards. :-)
Yeah. I lived in El Paso in 1965 and traveled to White Sands a few times and toured a bit. Liked Carlsbad Caverns. There weren't any Walmarts then but I could imagine a 200 mile roundtrip for shopping or eating out.
You voted for Donald Trump(even when you knew his unfitness and character flaws) after his lies and selfishness greatly helped COVID spread and kill half a million Americans. You voted for him even after he repeatedly telegraphed what he would do should he lose the election. You did this not because of what he is but because of what you perceive democrats to be. You never bother to write about or even consider in your writing the other point of view or possibilities besides the ones that fit within your worldview.
You may say we don't live in a Sith vs. Jedi world, but you sure act and write like we do.
As for you article yesterday, it was a conspiracy theory based only on your own view of the intelligence community and the words of Tucker Carlson. You should have gotten more pushback then you did because these no truth blogs have directly contributed to why we live in such a post truth world.
I also remember after 9/11 that as a country we couldn't throw our freedoms away fast enough in hopes that the government would protect us. So forgive me if all i can muster is an exaggerated eye roll to someone who complains about intelligence community overreach.
I’m not the only (or the first or smartest) to believe the NSA did leak Tucker Carlson’s intercepted communications. I quoted Matt Taibbi and he’s no conservative. He too caught much flak for “defending” Carlson. As for my core, I stand by it. Even if it wasn’t “against Democrats” I stand by my reasoning at the time. If I knew 1/6 would go down the way it did, would I have changed my vote? Certainly along with millions of others. If only we had a time machine. And “I told you so” is not an answer. Trump will not go to prison. As president at least he had people watching him and limits. As a private citizen short of imprisonment he’s free to be a hugely damaging influence.
His joint chiefs of staff seem to disagree with you about his danger. I mean not a single one has bothered to refute that claim so I guess we can conclude that its truth.
Private citizen Trump is just another grifter who for some reason connected with republican grievances. If not for willing accomplices like you and others he would have been stuck leading the 33 percent of the right who just want to be lied too and made to feel like their pathetic lives aren't their fault. Most of those people aren't even "conservative".
Oh and its not "I told you so", its "you deluded yourself and you should have known better"
The real issue is we are living in a Jedi vs. Sith world. I mean from where I'm standing with no immune system and half the country actively trying to kill me through either stupidity or ignorance I have no issue saying that. The real question is why would you want to work for the Empire without the telekinetic powers or at least the bomb wardrobe.
Two bits of good news for you on this Friday:
1. I'm finding little to argue about on this piece, so hopefully your time today will not be wasted on Internet randos like me. (No, Chris hasn't been kidnapped and is being ransomed for Bitcoin.)
2. All your Resurgent pieces are accessible to the public via the Wayback Machine. Example:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200101141345/https://theresurgent.com/2019/12/31/2020-the-feel-when-the-new-normal-is-pretty-abnormal/
If you want to burnish your Trump-skeptical credentials through past writings, you can cite your old pieces there.
I hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend.
I just reread my “TFW” article. It was pretty good. I question if it was me writing it.
I literally just picked a time that I knew was before the First TV merger and found the first article with your name on it - so I'm glad you enjoyed the outcome of my Internet dice-rolling.
I also have all the articles. I suppose I could republish them here if anyone’s interested.
I didn't come around to reading your piece on Tucker Carlson until today. Like you, I don't watch Tucker Carlson regularly, and the only time I ever get around to listening to what he says, is if someone posts a clip of his on social media. I do agree that I find his style to be grating. I still remember back in the day when he was the sparring partner with the late Bob Novak, facing off against Paul Begala and James Carville at CNN for the show Crossfire. He seemed to be reasonable, and was very different than he is now. I remember him being against the Iraq War, but never seemed to have much in the way of grievance based populism in him. But other than that, I haven't really paid much attention otherwise. Therefore, I don't know much about this whole NSA controversy associated with him. My only take on this, is that I think it is reasonable that Tucker get a fair shake for him to prove his claims. I do think that the pushback you received in that piece you wrote prior, is kind of an instinctual reaction based on Tucker's more recent past of being at times very economical with the truth. That past explains why many aren't willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he otherwise would get. I do consider surveillance based wrongdoing by the NSA to be a serious matter, and a potential 4th amendment violation. So I'm for Tucker being able to press his case. If it turns out these assertions are baloney, or if Tucker is doing this for clickbait, then he deserves major blowback and scorn.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tucker doesn't believe half of the stuff he tells his audiences. His fanbase loves performative displays of "own the libs", and gravitate towards what David Thornton accurately referred to in the past as "outrage du jour". And Tucker is more than willing to deliver on that. It is no wonder why his show does as well as it does.
I also think that you don't have prove anything based on that last column you wrote on Tucker Carlson/NSA. I think most of us here(I certainly do) do appreciate your analysis and views on the issues, even when they differ with David and others. I would never confuse you for being a Trump or a Tucker sycophant, just because of these differences. As a Trump-skeptic conservative who didn't vote for Trump in both elections, we are often condemning the tribalism, and the penchant of many MAGA folks for living in an echo chamber, for the purposes of feeding their confirmation biases. The latter providing fuel for their preferred narratives, often untruthful. In that same vein, we as Trump-skeptics(whether non-Trump or reluctant Trump) are not immune from what plagues MAGAworld. I've seen and know personally some non-Trump individuals on the right jettison many of their beliefs they once had, because of Trump. The echo-chamber that reinforces tribalism could've been a reason why. I feel that reading yours and David's sometimes differing takes on an issue, along with other voices in the conservative movement and overall political spectrum, helps checks my own biases. It is a good bulwark against the temptations of tribalism and echo chambers.
Just to poke a bit of a hole: the Dems don't have a problem with voter ID as long as those IDs are provided to all voters at no-cost, and are relatively easy to get (within reasonable travel capabilities for someone without a driver license).
I appreciate the scare quotes around whistleblower in this piece: it'd be great if you went into some of the lack of evidence and credibility of the story.
Yeah all those poor Black rural people without access to a photocopier. Voter IDs are free in Georgia, and if you have a smartphone you don’t need a Kinkos. I’m waiting for VP Harris to complain that poor rural Blacks can find a fax machine or a decent payphone anymore. And the poor rural people are overwhelmingly white. They also voted for Trump. Yet there’s “Jim Crow” because of voter ID.
Steve: you brought race into this, not me. When it comes to costs, the race doesn't matter: either it's provided gratis, or it's a poll tax. It's good that GA offers a specific voter ID card for free: not all States that currently require a voter provide identification provide an ID free-of-cost, or have a dedicated Voter ID.
Also: whether GA or another state, you have to go to a physical location to get an ID. So, there needs be a location one can get said ID within a reasonable distance without driving.
Please let me know how the above is deserving of your ire.
"So, there needs be a location one can get said ID within a reasonable distance without driving."
If this is your standard, you're going to have a lot more ID offices than any other gov't office once you get into the Western states. Where I grew up, shopping for groceries was 30 minutes away, the nearest school was over 10 miles away, and you could easily go 60 miles in a direction where you still had people, but no post offices. Needless to say, NOTHING was a reasonable distance away without driving.
While I'm firmly on board with you and the idea that the gov't should bear the responsibility of getting IDs to voters if it is going to require those IDs to cast a ballot, the logistics of that effort deserve some deeper consideration beyond anyone should be able to walk to an official outpost and get an ID. (Which isn't workable either, once you figure in folks with physical disabilities.)
Maybe something worth considering would be a "bookmobile, but for voter identification" traveling outfit that made the rounds the months before Election Day that could bridge the physical gap for folks without ID.
We can utilize existing offices and personnel: for example, I submitted my first passport application at the local library and we submitted our daughter's at USPS.
That's one idea, and useful for those housebound or in areas where offices are too far away. Ideally, there'd be more frequent visits in areas where that's needed - primaries and local elections, not just General.
In NE Georgia I live 15 miles from the grocery store and 20 miles from a Walmart. I'm lucky I have a car and can afford gas - at least for now.
We were 30 miles from the nearest grocery store and at least 40 minutes from the nearest Walmart. NE Georgia sounds absolutely cosmopolitan by NM standards. :-)
Yeah. I lived in El Paso in 1965 and traveled to White Sands a few times and toured a bit. Liked Carlsbad Caverns. There weren't any Walmarts then but I could imagine a 200 mile roundtrip for shopping or eating out.
You voted for Donald Trump(even when you knew his unfitness and character flaws) after his lies and selfishness greatly helped COVID spread and kill half a million Americans. You voted for him even after he repeatedly telegraphed what he would do should he lose the election. You did this not because of what he is but because of what you perceive democrats to be. You never bother to write about or even consider in your writing the other point of view or possibilities besides the ones that fit within your worldview.
You may say we don't live in a Sith vs. Jedi world, but you sure act and write like we do.
As for you article yesterday, it was a conspiracy theory based only on your own view of the intelligence community and the words of Tucker Carlson. You should have gotten more pushback then you did because these no truth blogs have directly contributed to why we live in such a post truth world.
I also remember after 9/11 that as a country we couldn't throw our freedoms away fast enough in hopes that the government would protect us. So forgive me if all i can muster is an exaggerated eye roll to someone who complains about intelligence community overreach.
I’m not the only (or the first or smartest) to believe the NSA did leak Tucker Carlson’s intercepted communications. I quoted Matt Taibbi and he’s no conservative. He too caught much flak for “defending” Carlson. As for my core, I stand by it. Even if it wasn’t “against Democrats” I stand by my reasoning at the time. If I knew 1/6 would go down the way it did, would I have changed my vote? Certainly along with millions of others. If only we had a time machine. And “I told you so” is not an answer. Trump will not go to prison. As president at least he had people watching him and limits. As a private citizen short of imprisonment he’s free to be a hugely damaging influence.
Not “core” I typed “vote” dang smartphones.
Fair points. I can respect that.
His joint chiefs of staff seem to disagree with you about his danger. I mean not a single one has bothered to refute that claim so I guess we can conclude that its truth.
Private citizen Trump is just another grifter who for some reason connected with republican grievances. If not for willing accomplices like you and others he would have been stuck leading the 33 percent of the right who just want to be lied too and made to feel like their pathetic lives aren't their fault. Most of those people aren't even "conservative".
Oh and its not "I told you so", its "you deluded yourself and you should have known better"
The real issue is we are living in a Jedi vs. Sith world. I mean from where I'm standing with no immune system and half the country actively trying to kill me through either stupidity or ignorance I have no issue saying that. The real question is why would you want to work for the Empire without the telekinetic powers or at least the bomb wardrobe.
Also after 9/11 I was quite skeptical of the giant bureaucracy of DHS and the wars. But I wasn’t writing then.