Kevin Williamson: Trump Is Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross
Coffee is for closers!
Kevin D. Williamson has had some especially entertaining columns lately, but his comparison of Trump and his fans (especially the hyper attack dog Anthony Scaramucci) to Alec Baldwin’s character Blake from the film Glengarry Glen Ross is a keeper. (More accurately, it’s a comparison of Trump to sad-sack loser salesmen who want to be Blake.) First, let’s recall who the character is:
In the film, Blake sets things in motion by delivering a motivational speech and announcing a sales competition: “First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize? A set of steak knives. Third prize is, you’re fired. Get the picture?” He berates the salesmen in terms both financial — “My watch cost more than your car!” — and sexual. Their problem, in Blake’s telling, isn’t that they’ve had a run of bad luck or bad sales leads — or that the real estate they’re trying to sell is crap — it is that they aren’t real men.
The leads are weak? You’re weak. . . . Your name is “you’re wanting,” and you can’t play in the man’s game. You can’t close them? Then tell your wife your troubles, because only one thing counts in this world: Get them to sign on the line which is dotted. You hear me, you f***ing f*****s?
Here’s the scene, in case you never saw it or have forgotten it.
Whatever else you might thing of Alec Baldwin, he will always be a little bit OK in my book just because of the way he pulls this off. It’s chock-full of memorable lines and is a riot from start to finish. And the hyper-alpha-male bravado of the guy is indeed typical of an ideal to which many clueless males with no character aspire in the Trump era. You’ve seen the Web sites, which explain to socially inept doofuses that they can drive women wild by treating them badly (“negging” them) and so forth. Williamson says Trump is a perfect example of the sort of guy who sees laughable over-the-top displays of dominance as the pinnacle of masculinity:
Trump is the political version of a pickup artist, and Republicans — and America — went to bed with him convinced that he was something other than what he is. Trump inherited his fortune but describes himself as though he were a self-made man.
We did not elect Donald Trump; we elected the character he plays on television.
He has had a middling career in real estate and a poor one as a hotelier and casino operator but convinced people he is a titan of industry. He has never managed a large, complex corporate enterprise, but he did play an executive on a reality show. He presents himself as a confident ladies’ man but is so insecure that he invented an imaginary friend to lie to the New York press about his love life and is now married to a woman who is open and blasé about the fact that she married him for his money. He fixates on certain words (“negotiator”) and certain classes of words (mainly adjectives and adverbs, “bigly,” “major,” “world-class,” “top,” and superlatives), but he isn’t much of a negotiator, manager, or leader. He cannot negotiate a health-care deal among members of a party desperate for one, can’t manage his own factionalized and leak-ridden White House, and cannot lead a political movement that aspires to anything greater than the service of his own pathetic vanity.
He wants to be John Wayne, but what he is is “Woody Allen without the humor.” Peggy Noonan, to whom we owe that observation, has his number: He is soft, weak, whimpering, and petulant. He isn’t smart enough to do the job and isn’t man enough to own up to the fact. For all his gold-plated toilets, he is at heart that middling junior salesman watching Glengarry Glen Ross and thinking to himself: “That’s the man I want to be.” How many times do you imagine he has stood in front of a mirror trying to project like Alec Baldwin?
(As an aside: I had not realized Peggy Noonan had turned on Trump. I’ve always seen Noonan as something of a human weathervane. If she has gone anti-Trump, that may be the canary in the coal mine that shows the rest of the country willing to jettison the guy.)
Trump, the famous dealmaker who actually sucks at closing deals, has failed to close on ObamaCare repeal. He said it would be so easy. But he is failing. And so, it may be time for Trump to get the motivational speech the salesmen got in the film.
Listen up, Trump. Coffee is for closers. So go and do likewise. Close a repeal of ObamaCare. The votes are out there. You pick them up, they’re yours. You don’t — I got no sympathy for you.
“The Senators are weak,” you say. The Senators are weak? You’re weak. Always Be Closing! If not, you’re gonna be shinin’ my shoes.
I’d wish you good luck, Trump, but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it.
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
“I came here because Mitch and Paul asked me to. They asked me for a favor. I said the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass, because a loser is a loser.”
It’s funny, but of course Mitch and Paul are just as much sad-sack losers as Trump in this scenario.
Patterico (115b1f) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:17 pm“You’re weak.”
Sales skills have their place, and isn’t that all Trump is. He claims to be a big idea guy and the trade off is he is not detailed. Heh. If he were a kiddie pool with an inch of water to drown in, he couldn’t go deep enough.
His poker-face screams pedophile as he draws to an inside straight and has to pull a deuce from an aides sleeve. But salesmen are expected to cheat so at least there’s no cognitive dissonance. Cheat at golf? Who would stop him?
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:30 pmI love President Trump more than I love surprising new varietals of french toast with various compounded butters and such, but this Scaramucci person is problematic for me
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:36 pmThe cob should be disbanded for fraud, the bureau and dos was term i. By akhmetchin but trump is theriblem.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:42 pmPeggy Noonan’s a pushing-70 hooch what’s been single for all but four years of her life
she lives in Brooklyn and poops on people for a living
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:45 pmThat’s why they call her sandpaper snatch
She’ll come around to the correct conservatism.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:51 pmTried to watch that movie. Kept falling asleep.
Kevin M (752a26) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:52 pmit’s a very problematic movie in its treatment of south-east asian migrants
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:53 pmshe lives in Brooklyn and poops on people for a living
Said happyfeet. Really.
Kevin M (752a26) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:53 pmI’m naughty.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:55 pmoopers that’s not quite correct
subcontinental migrants?
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 12:55 pmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glengarry_Glen_Ross_(film)
The movie was made in 1992; the play which it based on, in 1984.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:09 pmWhat kind of loser cant afford a Freedom Press and electric kettle?
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:12 pmDuring an MTV interview in 1998, Kurt Loder pointed out the incorrect usage in her book of poetry of the word “casualty” (intended as something to the effect of “of a casual nature”) to which Jewel responded, “You’re a smartass for pointing that out. Next topic.”
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:16 pmIf Trump were a closer, he’d have been glued to John McCain’s elbow from the moment McCain set foot back in Washington.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:19 pmDoesn’t the presidency pretty much sell itself?
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:21 pmIf Mitch and Paul are sad sack, what are Mitch and Murray?
More projection unto The Donald.
OK.
And while Baldwin shines in this scene, I’ll take he, Fred Ward and Jennifer Jason Leigh eating pork chips and sucking down Polars…..
harkin (97d6f1) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:37 pm“She’s got her daddy’s money
Her mama’s good looks
More laughs than a stack of comic books.”- Ricochet
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:42 pmBTW, I abhore Alec Baldwin. I don’t deny that he has acting talent. I don’t make the mistake of thinking that he personally shares any of the qualities of the characters he plays. My opinion about Alec Baldwin the man (as opposed to Alec Baldwin the actor) was pretty much frozen in carbonite when I heard the recording of his message to his pre-teen daughter. In fact, everything he’s done off the screen, and quite a bit of it since then, has added another layer of carbonite around my opinion. He’s scum, and I wouldn’t cross the street to pee on him if he caught fire. And my personal revulsion has become so great, in fact, that the last time I re-watched “Glengarry” I actually fast-forwarded through his scenes.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:42 pmErrata #19, meant to write: “quite a bit on [screen] since then.”
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:43 pmChristian Bale jumped the shark in a very similar way
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:46 pmPeggy Noonan and Donald Trump are like the Steven Wright joke of a humidifier and dehumidifier fighting it out.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:47 pmshe’s not that humid
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:47 pm“Elf you,” Peggy– it’s July, 2017; Noonan’s stuck in 1987.
Coffee is for closers!
And cocoa is for cobblers:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/glengarry-christmas—elf-motivation/n12000?snl=1
“See this gumdrop? This gumdrop cost more than the mushroom you call a house.” – Winter’s Breath [Alec Baldwin] SNL, 2005
___________
Today’s Beldar the Bitter ‘Watergate, Watergate, Watergate’ Words of Wonder:
“The problem that you have are these, uh, mine fields down the road. I think the most difficult problem is the, are the, are the, are the guys that are going to jail. I think you’re right about that. I agree. Now. And also the fact that we’re not going to be able to give them clemency.” – President Nixon rationalizing continuing to pay hush money to Watergate burglars for their silence with John Dean, secret White House Oval Office tapes, March 21, 1973
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:52 pmBale came over to the right, if I’m not mistaken. The key to winning the culture is probably getting Bradley Cooper and Chris Pratt, middling looks wise, but capable leading men, to be not to the way of Clooney, Pitt, 31st al.
urbanleftbehind (847a06) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:53 pmMr. Pratt’s too cool for school
bradley cooper seems more like he’s just along for the ride though
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:55 pmin LA i had this laemmle theater i could walk to for to see the indie movies and i went and saw this and bradley cooper really needs to make this right for me
i don’t care what he has to do but for example i noticed this morning nobody showed up at 9:00 am to make me pancakes
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 1:58 pmSo the man who beat out 16 contenders for the nomination and followed it up with an unexpected victory over Mrs. Sure Thing, while all the while making his critics look like bigger asses than he is, is – somehow – not a closer? Did you read what you wrote? The great lesson of the Trump presidency is that moral and intellectual poverty are relative things. No steak knives for you!
This was a great week. The Republicans in Congress managed to make themselves look worse than Trump – far worse. Even #NeverTrumpers were beside themselves with anger toward the Legislative Branch. When #NeverTrumpers choose up sides with Trump and against the GOPe, you know things are going well for our man in the White House. All this hand-wringing about Mooch’s potty mouth didn’t hurt either.
Sad Peggy is a barometer of leisure class values and nothing more. Why, yes! They are unhappy. Nothing wrong with that.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:16 pmDo you like the “Sad Peggy” thing? I thought it was very Trump-like.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:19 pmNot unlike Chelsea Buttface Clinton, i’d imagine Peggy is also “thankful to have read Arendt at Sidwell & Stanford.”
Mr. ThOR i’m not sure how sad Peggy is – that’s a very deep emotion.
But I think she sighs a lot.
I think she sighs a whole freakishly goddamn lot.
Like more than Jodie Foster even.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:25 pmI’d wish you good luck, Trump, but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it.
Except he does.
“Hey look, in the meantime, I guess, I can’t be doing so badly, because I’m president, and you’re not. You know.” – Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, ‘Time’ interview, 3/23/17
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-time-interview-truth-236404
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:35 pmSunday morning round tables are strewn with desiccated corpses like the side of Mt Everest.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:44 pmI know I’m at the 24 minute mark when we pass old Blue Tie Guy.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:49 pmI think Trump is Dom DeLuise in “History of the World Part I”. (51 second clip with special bonus fart joke.)
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 2:59 pmTh0R, Noonan has long been a reliable wordsmith whose powers of observation aren’t. I still give her credit for the former, and she’s still capable of original insights, so I continue to read her anyway.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:02 pmDJT has always employed the cudgels of bankruptcy and the outrageous expense of protracted litigation to “close” his deals. To his very great surprise and the detriment of our nation, he has discovered the Deep State and party elites are bigger than the influence and prestige of his office. Now add the malicious and malevolent media to the mix.
All the cold calls in the world won’t result in any sales.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:04 pmAlec Baldwin played president Clinton in State and Main. Another Mamet collaboration.
I’d slide down a brass pole and ride on a truck with a Dalmatian to pee on Baldwin even if it was a false alarm.
No homo.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:05 pmDerp-Deep State?
Paranoia is a POTUS prerogative every 40-50 years.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:08 pmDCSCA
Cocoa is for cobblers
I thought Daniel Day-Lewis was a tea drinker.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:15 pm“All the cold calls in the world won’t result in any sales.”
The sale closed in November. If you don’t like the time share you bought in Paris, just remember Dallas is less than a two hour drive away.
You did read the fine print, right?
Rick Ballard (39e1b7) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:16 pm@26 happyfeet
Mr Pratt kills cute woodland critters and turns them into sausage.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:17 pmBaldwin is a misapplied talent like Farrahan and Sharpton. If MLB was already expanded to 30 teams in the early 1950s, Cuba would have been spared the tyranny of an ex minor league pitcher.
urbanleftbehind (847a06) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:17 pmBeldar,
There is a part of me that likes Noonan very much. Sometimes she can be spot on. But she all too often disappoints.
Her take on Obama being, perhaps, the best example. She struggles with issues of class.
ThOR (7cebad) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:18 pm.
@ 28ThOR
Trump didn’t try to make the sale from a pay phone.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:20 pmBaldwin did some great acting in red October and beetlejuice, pretending to be a nice guy.
As usual strassel has the main point re the grishenko dossier. And the funding for same, that lee Smith elaborated on.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:29 pmSo maverick pulled an even greater betrayal then he did to one person in September 2008, for the pre.miumd of his constituents like those of murkowski will rise ever highrr
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:34 pmBona fides from neocon/Teahadists saddling McCain with Pumpkinhead slouched toward Bethlehem.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:37 pmThe colectivos are your kind of people, bebpnno:
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:44 pmhttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-democracy-vote-protests-death-toll-caracas-nicolas-maduro
@34 nk
Mel Brooks has kept us waiting longer than George Lucas.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:49 pmYoullnotice this parallel with Voldemort:
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:54 pmhttps://mobile.twitter.com/omriceren/status/891467549107408896?p=v
Ben Burn
Is Teahadist the new Rethuglican?
I kind of like y’all quaeda.
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:55 pmTrump hires Scaramucci. (36 second clip.)
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:57 pmScaramucci is trashy.
President Trump couldn’t have possibly known this.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 3:58 pmQ984 is a how to guide for them.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:00 pmHow come Wal-Mart gets a pass for destroying local business, but Amazon suddenly breaches good behavior? Besos?
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:04 pmhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/business/is-amazon-getting-too-big/2017/07/28/ff38b9ca-722e-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html?utm_term=.1017407cbdaf
probably cause wal-mart is cool and smells like popcorn whereas amazon is run by a creepy bald fascist virgin what wants to shoot us all in the library
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:12 pmPutin seems to be doing more to cut unnecessary U.S. government spending than Trump is. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/world/europe/russia-sanctions-us-diplomats-expelled.html
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:13 pmDoes somebody here know that WaPo and Amazon are both owned by the same person?
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:15 pmYes..a Progressive..throw him in jail.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:16 pmgtfo
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:16 pmPretty soon he can buy Trump a gazillion times over.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:17 pmNot the point. When WaPo is not the house organ of the DNC, it’s the house organ of Amazon. Not an objective news source on either subject.
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:19 pmImagine. Free marketers advocating Anti-Trust law enforcement. I thought they only wanted to enforce street crime law to make it safe for white collar criminals..
It’s just so..
repressive of the MARKET!
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:23 pmWho’s a free marketer?
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:26 pmNo. You missed it…’it’ being the circulated buzz…you know, laying the groundwork with ‘placed ‘ stories.
The one you reference is the counter.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:27 pmBernie Sanders? Nah, he just likes Russia. Went there for his honeymoon.
nk (dbc370) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:27 pmDid I say you were ? Ketchup
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:28 pmMichael Walsh at PJMedia has even more good news that can be credited to the idiots in Congress.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:30 pmI’m so conspiratorial.
It comes from experience with human beans.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:33 pmThe Baldwin Flag
Little Piggie in foreground
Motto: Don’t Pee on Me
Pinandpuller (ea25a3) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:33 pmAttorney General Jeff Sessions, an honorable man perhaps too naive for his own good
i’m so tired of hearing people apologize for this weak feckless turd
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:37 pmIts all serves the interests of the company, thanks to that 600 million dollar processing cotract
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:43 pmThe Details About the CIA’s Deal With Amazon And Its Puppy-Torturing Virgin CEO
A $600 million computing cloud built by an outside company is a “radical departure” for the risk-averse intelligence community.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:48 pm32.Sunday morning round tables are strewn with desiccated corpses like the side of Mt Everest
Miss Peggy has some ‘splainin’ to do: she was a CBS News ‘streetwalker’ in 1980 radio reporting that December night on reactions to the shooting of John Lennon.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/30/2017 @ 4:49 pm“Get back back to where you once belonged…” – ‘Get Back’ The Beatles, 1969
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/30/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-241149
All, Melania too are total self control while Ol McDonald is fit to be tied. I just don’t understand unless it’s an abusive relationship.
Ben burn (77b6c4) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:06 pmNow the problem as others in the know have made aware, the company is more supportive if the ilkwan than any of the gulf states or jordan.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:32 pmWhich suggests what this grushenko narrative is really about, general fLynn threatened their gravy train. Derek Harvey, robin townley and Dr. gorka concurred on the point.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:36 pmTrump won in spite of who he is. Hillary lost because of who she is. The court jester beat the evil queen. Nobody was fooled.
crazy (11d38b) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:38 pmThat’s a nice insight, crazy.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:40 pmThank you Thor. Like you I believe, I’m on Team America.
crazy (11d38b) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:52 pmYes, I’m on that team too, though not without an occasional nosebleed.
For years I’ve depended on mainstream pundits to do my thinking for me. Now I’m doing more of it myself.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 5:59 pmQuestion, what team is murkowsi healer maverick and postman lets leave out Susan Collins because I’m out of scolapine
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:02 pmFurthermore what is the linchpin to me h of their oppositiom, that would be their respective states medicaid expansions, you can add capito and Hutchinson on standby.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:10 pmThen again wullianson was a fool when it came to figuring out Ted. Cruz, so to expect that has gain ed any insight in four years is dubious.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:18 pmReason to stock up now
http://bangordailynews.com/2017/07/30/politics/collins-troubled-by-trump-threat-to-eliminate-health-insurance-subsidies/?ref=topStories0Thumb
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:26 pmYeah, I forgot about that. He’s a jerk. Probably makes it easier to play one.
Patterico (115b1f) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:34 pmHe was also the jerk that let Matt Damon get way with being costellos mole in the state police, I suppose this is equivalent to g man collobarator connelly with bulger.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:37 pmDon’t give a darn about Baldwin for reasons discussed above.
Don’t give a darn about Williamson ever since he said Americans should be displaced and cities destroyed to make way for illegals.
He can DIAF.
https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/432569/father-f-hrer
NJRob (fe5b58) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:55 pmWhich is essentially the bee art argument at the Atlantic. Now the last rhino that went as Diablo as Collins was Lincoln chaffed he eventually discovered he could be pandered by Whitehouse, sheldon
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 6:58 pmTrump has never been a boiler room churn and burn closer. He rents his name to some but the deal he closed on the Aladdin provides a much closer parallel to his current situation. Kelly has been brought in to provide more discipline for daily operations but that’s because Trump’s understanding of generals is based upon movie and TV characters, much like his views regarding the duties of the office he holds. Kelly is competent and quite capable of handling staff. It’s a shame the central problem isn’t amenable any control or discipline whatsoever.
Rick Ballard (39e1b7) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:14 pmSome of mamets better writing was for the unit, that series about the delta forces, his paranoid streak came out in a very small film, Spartan, which suggests the real reach of the
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:23 pmdeep state, back in the w era
Carlos slims become a Nigel tufnel parody of it self
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/07/30/more-winning-foggy-bottom-begins-self-draining-as-desperate-career-diplomats-quit/comment-page-1/#comments
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:35 pm“But Hillary”
Dave (445e97) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:52 pmNJRob,
The article you link doesn’t say to me what it says to you, especially regarding illegals. I think the author’s point is that people need to relocate for good jobs, not expect government to bring jobs to places that can’t provide them.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:57 pmI know there is an imperfect parallel, he served in other capacities as well:
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:06 pmhttp://www.doug-long.com/leahy.htm
Are we afforded any perspective at all:
https://amgreatness.com/2017/07/29/killing-gods-city/
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:29 pmDRJ,
The article above was the one where he said cities will necessarily die.
Here is what he said that got him much deserved hatred from regular people.
What the hell does he know about the white American underclass except what he reads from the NY Times?
NJRob (fe5b58) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:38 pmOne of Kevin Wiliamson’s greatest hits – such a sweetie:
“The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible,” the conservative writer says. “The white American under-class is in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture whose main products are misery and used heroin needles. Donald Trump’s speeches make them feel good. So does OxyContin. What they need isn’t analgesics, literal or political. They need real opportunity, which means that they need real change, which means that they need U-Haul. If you want to live, get out of Garbutt [a blue-collar town in New York].”
Reminds me of Sam Kinison’s bit “How to Cure World Hunger”. Both are farce; Kinison’s intentionally so.
Pundits gonna pontificate – there will always be suckers—-er, buyers, for what he’s selling.
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:40 pmBaldwin’s brilliant; he pisses off all the ‘Right’ people.
“Making it through a full twenty-four hours without making a single misstep is called Reaganing. The only other people who’ve ever done it? Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, and—no judgment—Saddam Hussein.” – Jack Donaghy [Alec Baldwin] “30 Rock” NBC TV 2006-2013
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:45 pmDRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 7:57 pm
“The article you link doesn’t say to me what it says to you, especially regarding illegals. I think the author’s point is that people need to relocate for good jobs, not expect government to bring jobs to places that can’t provide them.”
Alrighty then, what to do about that big wall around metropolitan areas? You know, the one that’s known as the “cost of living”?
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:46 pmMost bigotry in this country is class-based. The hatred directed at Blacks and Hispanics is typically classist in theme. Even the contempt for Trump is focused on his déclassé speech and behavior. Well done steak with ketchup? How vulgar!
The electorate gets this, even though Trump’s critics don’t.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:57 pmClassist bigotry is part of the core curriculum at our institutions of higher learning.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:58 pmWiki says he was born in Amarillo, Texas, and I think he grew up in Lubbock, Texas. Those are as blue collar — and as far from elite enclaves — as you can get.
DRJ (d35869) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:05 pm96/narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 8:29 pm
“Are we afforded any perspective at all:
https://amgreatness.com/2017/07/29/killing-gods-city/”
Quelle horreur! Now that’s entertainment!
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:07 pmHe said people should be willing to relocate for good jobs. He didn’t say they should be illegal immigrants, only that they should be willing to move to places that have jobs. So if you live in a town that is dying because there are no jobs, move to a place that has jobs you can do. I don’t see why that’s so offensive.
DRJ (d35869) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:09 pm103/DRJ (d35869) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:05 pm
Ah….so you can take the boy out of the country AND the country out of the boy.
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:10 pmYes but he had lost a certain perspective, not as much as buckley fils who forgets,there generations ago they were Texas wildcatters
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:10 pmWhere they will go to say Richmond and get underbid by h1bi visa holders for example, if not outsourced to Guatemala or the phillipines
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:12 pmAnd there hasn’t been nearly enough Dxressinv of those needs but what has out vaulted congress accomplished.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:22 pmWhat is offensive about asking people to be willing to move to other towns/states to pursue better opportunities, Lenny? When I was growing up, that was considered the smart thing to do. Sometimes it seems like people were more mobile 50 years ago than they are now.
DRJ (d35869) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:24 pmI don’t speak for the author and I’m not sure that was his point. I think he was talking about blue collar workers, and I doubt they would have the skills that make moving to highly urban areas a smart move. They should move where the jobs are that fit their skills.
For instance, where I live In Texas there are jobs, growth and we need workers. I meet people every week who have traveled here from other states to earn money. I met a man from Wisconsin who builds cement block fences (very nice fences, by the way), and he came to Texas because he couldn’t get enough work in Wisconsin to support his family. He wasn’t happy about leaving them and the town where he grew up, but he did it because he wanted to support his family. That strikes me as good and smart.
So, again, why is it offensive to write that people should go where the jobs are instead of expecting government to provide them?
DRJ (d35869) — 7/30/2017 @ 9:32 pmDRJ,
read the quote. He’s sneering at Trump supporters telling them their way of life is dead and just accept it.
No different from leftists telling people conservatism and the traditional family are dead. Move on (TM).
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:08 pmIf cities are so much better, why is the majority of welfare and section 8 housing there?
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:09 pmI don’t think he’s sneering at anyone, nor is he arguing that people should only move to large cities. I think he is saying people should be willing to move where there are jobs they can do.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:26 pmIf there are no jobs, wouldn’t they be wise to accept it and move to where there are jobs? How is it sneering to say that?
DRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:29 pmOr you can create jobs. What was silicon valley before the tech age?
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:36 pmI’m shocked that you can read that full article, see how he’s touting immigration (which he really means illegal), says it doesn’t compete for citizens jobs, then tells the citizen to move or die, but you don’t think it’s condescension and sneering.
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/30/2017 @ 10:39 pmImmigration is barely mentioned. His focus is why American blue collar lives have changed. It’s not because of immigration and trade but because of “… welfare dependency, the drug and alcohol addiction, the family anarchy.” Sadly, he’s right. Marriage has been crumbling for blue collar Americans for years, while drugs, alcohol abuse and suicide have risen.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 11:03 pmI lived in Oregon while the timber industry was being shut down to protect an owl and to placate liberal tree-huggers. Working class jobs were disappearing by the thousands. There were a lot of desperate people who didn’t know where to turn because it was their betrayal by the government that created the collapse. Those jobs never came back, even after it was learned that it wasn’t habitat destruction, but, instead, competition from another type of owl that was driving the die-off. Of course, it was never about the owl anyway. It was about wealthy urban liberals who wanted to crush the timber industry and cared not one whit about the people who would be hurt in the process.
And how do Texans feel about the federal government’s Red River water grab? Or West Virginians about Obama’s attempts to shut down the coal industry? Or Alaskans about the federal government blocking development of North Slope oil? Or farmers, ranchers, and developers across the country who have found themselves the victims of the federal government’s use of navigable waterway rules to strip landowners of their right to use their private property? I could go on, but I won’t. It’s not about special treatment, as Williamson would have the reader believe. What most blue-collar Americans want is for the federal government to take their thumb off the scale.
Williamson is the worst kind of classist hater. His sneering contempt for regular working people is breathtaking. He embodies everything that sent voters to the polls to vote Trump. I like Williamson because of his willingness to share his hatred of those he views as beneath him. It is just that sort of mean-spirited contempt that mobilizes voters.
ThOR (c9324e) — 7/30/2017 @ 11:05 pmNo values, no structure, and no jobs. It’s a toxic combination.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/30/2017 @ 11:06 pmWhat do we do for those who have done right, and still have no livelihoods, those that probably most likely voted for trump, those that didn’t most likely voted democrat.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:20 amNow that we caught the car, now what:
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:26 amhttps://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2017/07/30/american-wild-man/
But keep focusing on 30 year old mamet plays
http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/07/31/revolt-generals-narrative-driving-national-security-train
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:32 amFraud was their safe word
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/30/exclusive-watchdog-gave-grassley-false-info-omitted-crucial-details
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:56 amConservative policies help get government out of our lives and try to stop government policies that hurt people (as ThOR mentions). That’s why I think it’s important to elect a conservative who understands these issues and policies.
But government cannot be the answer to this problem unless we also want it to tell us where to live and what to do with our lives. People have the responsibility to direct their own lives, and when negative circumstances happen — even circumstances not of their making and beyond their control — then they need to look for answers. That may mean moving to get better opportunities. It’s not a new idea. It’s what spurred people to move West.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:56 amThe last administration was a bunch of brigands which looted extorted and .ad deals with criminal states and organizations across the globe, from the sinaloa cartel to the sepah redoubt, it encouraged mobs to threaten law enforcement it hamstrung American industry with a web of regulations and outright prohibitions it emasculated our military and made our intelligence services a laughing stock
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:03 amnarciso
The last four administrations! GWB actively helped Obama get elected.
Truthbetold (1ab5c1) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:10 amIt’s hard, and I am sorry for all the people suffering from economic and other hardships across our country. It’s like a modern-day Grapes of Wrath for some people, but now there are food resources to prevent people from starving and laws/courts that help protect them from wrongfully losing their property.
But if the jobs leave and the livelihoods are gone, then the people who can work have to leave for places that have jobs. We can’t get in the business of making sure everyone has jobs that enable them to stay in the same communities for generations, unless we want to accept that government will plan our lives. Soviet-style government planning used to be anathema to virtually all Americans. I suspect quite a few would welcome it now.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:11 amIts not as easy as williamson suggests, maybe they should replace him with someone from one of those Indian papers he used to write for.
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:15 amUltimately, which is more helpful for people whose lives have changed in ways that can’t be fixed: To complain and sympathize, or to tell them to get a U-Haul?
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:28 amIt is not emotionally easy to relocate but it is possible, and getting a U-Haul is a start. People do it everyday as shown at U-Haul migration trends.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:32 amU-Haul breaks migration down for states and large cities but also for smaller cities.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:37 amThe answer to Swan!
“The United States has carried out a largely unheralded roundup of big Russian hackers over the last year, grabbing them on vacation in Barcelona, Prague and Greece, per the AP.
The arrests come as Russia’s security services have struck a strategic agreement with the country’s cyber criminals, allowing them to work as long as they also conduct state-ordered missions, experts tell Axis.
Ben burn (4f4dda) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:43 amBy the AP’s count, at least five Russian hackers have been arrested, including Alexander Vinnick, the operator of one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, who was picked up July 25 while vacationing with his family in northern Greece on charges of allegedly helped criminal syndicates launder money.
Why it matters: None of those picked up has any publicly known connection to the most notorious of Russia’s cyber-led hybrid war — the hacking of the U.S. and European elections over the last 18 months. But the arrests are intended as a U.S. message that Russia’s increasingly intelligent cyberwar cannot be carried out with impunity, Jim Lewis, of the Center for Strategic and International Relations, told Axios.
http://www.madcowprod.com/2017/05/25/meet-russian-hackers-behind-russia-gate/
Ben burn (4f4dda) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:45 amNJRob,
To clarify again, I read the article as talking about migration and not immigration. It’s about Americans moving to find jobs, not about illegals (except that illegal immigration isn’t the main reason blue collar America is hurting).
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:52 amThey are independent actors the like the janus network in goldeneye, that is the disturbing bit,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/31/2017 @ 7:22 amRIP – Jeanne Moreau
harkin (536957) — 7/31/2017 @ 7:28 amnarciso @123. That’s interesting. J.E.D’s. point that “The issue is that the president is not being forwarded proposals that he can do anything with. He’s not being forwarded proposals that meet his policy criteria.” is likely the real explanation behind bringing in Kelly as chief of staff and not all the other gossipy reasons being tweeted. Priebus wasn’t effective at managing either the staff to the president’s agenda or the president to the perma-state’s desires.
crazy (11d38b) — 7/31/2017 @ 7:31 amI wonder how far we are from the inflexion point where Republicans want Trump to melt down and Pence to take over for a straightforward Republican government that no one voted for.
I also note that Bernie Sanders was one of only 2 no votes in the question of more sanctions. Is that his tacit acceptance that Russia will be a factor in the next election and him positioning as a non-threatening option that will help further their goal of weakening American hegemony?
Bob (1cbd3f) — 7/31/2017 @ 7:55 amDRJ —
I have no doubt renting a U-Haul works for a few. But as ThOR pointed out, government has to take its thumb off the scales. As a former business owner – I was fortunate enough to sell it recently – I am all too familiar with the maze of inane regulations and administrative “rules” in my very blue state that favor large corporations at the expense of small business owners, the latter being the true engine of economic growth. (My brethren and I couldn’t afford the lobbyists needed to compete with the big guys.) Look at the statistics of the decline of small business in the U.S. and you begin to see the barriers to entry for any entrepreneur and lack of meaningful job growth.
Couple our regulatory and bureaucratic quagmire with the admonition that a college degree is necessary for one’s prospects and you have a disconnect that dooms millions to failure. Mike Rowe has done yeoman’s work advocating policies that help prepare workers for good paying jobs without a college degree and mostly without having to move. One thing Germany does well are their apprenticeship programs that produce workers whose skills are sorely needed; they take a separate track from those that will continue their education for the white collar professions. The added benefit is a quality of workmanship not found elsewhere. While visiting Munich and Frankfurt a few years ago, I was amazed at the ability of the technicians as compared to those available to my company. Our people are just as smart, just poorly trained. This is an area where our government can help, but they’re MIA.
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/31/2017 @ 8:27 am#139 (Bob)
I wonder how far we are from the inflexion point where Republicans want Trump to melt down and Pence to take over for a straightforward Republican government that no one voted for.
I am not a Republican, and that is exactly where I am. Problem is — the GOP is paralyzed by fear of its voters, fear of the consequences of Trump, fear of the consequences of its own stated platform, that I don’t have any idea where the true inflection point is. How much harm does Trump have to do before the impeachment machinery can get going? And will impeachment be over something honest, or some overstated Russia hysteria?
Appalled (96665e) — 7/31/2017 @ 8:28 amFederal government is a problem and that’s why I support conservative national candidates. And if government is the problem in the blue state where you live, you should consider moving to a state that has less government regulation. People make choices and send messages to government with their feet as well as their votes.
DRJ (d35869) — 7/31/2017 @ 8:34 amI will be moving, but I’m retired and leave the fight to others.
Lenny (5ea732) — 7/31/2017 @ 9:10 amDRJ,
I just disagree. From a wider scale, Williamson’s arguments are no different than the left who uses economic migration as the excuse to have open borders while claiming it’s a net positive on the economy.
Do you disagree with that statement?
Now I do believe that people have the ability to leave for a different location if they choose. But first unshackle them from the crippling burden that was created by the government. With the tech age, people can work from near anywhere. Businesses can start up anywhere. It just takes innovation, taking risk, and faith that their hard work will succeed.
We don’t have that in the modern day leftist world.
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/31/2017 @ 9:18 ampeople can work from near anywhere.
If they have training and if it’s worth the while of a service provider to put in the necessary infrastructure. Which may be true of some rural places, but there are bound to be back-of-beyond-out-in-the-woods places where, without government subsidies, there will not be enough profit to come anywhere near justifying the cost.
If you don’t have government subsidizing them in one way or another, than those people will have no choice but to leave for other places. I think that was part of what Williamson was saying.
kishnevi (bb03e6) — 7/31/2017 @ 9:52 am“the GOP is paralyzed by fear of its voters, ”
Apalled: IYO what percentage of the 36% deadeyed support is LIVs?
Ben burn (4f4dda) — 7/31/2017 @ 9:58 ameffing buffoon
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/31/2017 @ 10:05 amGood for Paul. Indefinite detention has to go. Now more than ever.
AUFs are bullsh!t. Only there to make Congress feel relevant. Presidents shoot first and ask “May I?” afterwards, all the time.
nk (dbc370) — 7/31/2017 @ 10:11 amIndefinite detention is a clear violation of our constitutional rights. Citizens cannot be detained beyond a reasonable time. I don’t trust the government to do the right thing. They’ve shown they will use the powers of the government to harass and injure citizens when given the chance. Just like at Obama and his weaponized IRS as one example.
NJRob (7f4bec) — 7/31/2017 @ 10:16 amI’ll always remember the chapter in Richard Feynman’s book “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” in
Charles (24fa3a) — 7/31/2017 @ 10:20 am(yes, the nobel prize-winning super-intellectual) which he describes how he used scientific principles of controlled trials to prove that, in fact, you could pick up women at bars if you treated them like crap. This may not be a good way to establish a lasting relationship, but….
Wink, wink…
https://www.buzzfeed.com/henrygomez/rnc-tells-staff-to-preserve-all-documents-related-to-2016?utm_term=.dj1ZZyPqv#.qgLPPO0Ql
Ben burn (4f4dda) — 7/31/2017 @ 10:24 amMr. Paul seems like a very serious person but his communications game needs work i think
number one to get his thinking out there so people can credit him with seriousness of purpose
but also i think he really underestimates the baggage he carries cause of daddy
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/31/2017 @ 11:14 amI wasn’t talking paul…RAND is a think tank.
Ben burn (4f4dda) — 7/31/2017 @ 11:32 amI agree liberals make that argument and I see the comparison, but Williamson isn’t arguing that. He argues that domestic migration may be desirable. I don’t think it’s fair to assume that anyone in favor of increasing domestic migration must also believe in increasing legal or illegal international migration. We can support domestic economic migration and still believe in borders.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 2:34 pmTo me it reads like the white American underclass are a bunch of drug addled losers.
But maybe I’m just being irritable.
steveg (d73f93) — 7/31/2017 @ 4:34 pmA lot of the dust bowl migrants left because there was no work to be had.
But in coal country there is mining that could be done, but the government regulated those jobs to death and then offered up welfare and free meds in the place of honest work.
You can’t log, you can’t fish, you can’t drill.
Market forces are one thing, but lots of Trump rebellion voters wanted regulations lifted and playing fields leveled so they could be prosperous again out in their little slice of the nation
what’s so filthy, cowardly, and nastily john mccainesque about it is how these effete prancey dancey ballerina boys in chicago flutter around in this risible dying fiscal train wreck of a city what was literally built (twice) on the cheap energy produced by these coal miners they spit on today
here’s one of their brilliant ideas about how to spend monies on “green infrastructure” and then raise taxes on the diet coke of the poor illegal immigrant woman
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/31/2017 @ 4:43 pm128. DRJ (15874d) — 7/31/2017 @ 6:11 am
Sometimes those places don’t have housing. Also people are not used to thi. And they may be locked in place.
Also, if people leave then they won’t vote for the politicians who helped them.
Sammy Finkelman (9d3e1c) — 7/31/2017 @ 5:00 pmDRJ, more condescension from Williamson. I stand by what I said about this useless arrogant prick.
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/national-review-writer-blue-collar-workers-status-anxiety/
NJRob (7f4bec) — 8/1/2017 @ 9:45 pm