American Politics

[ScatManDoo]

Carlson uses white victimhood to play down the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the USA Capitol. He puts quotes around "insurrection," baselessly casting the riot as a "false-flag" operation instigated by federal officials to persecute conservatives. He asserts that they are punishing the mostly white crowd at the Capitol more harshly than the Black Lives Matter protesters who marched in the summer of 2020. Those rallies were largely peaceful.

Must see TV is coming to primetime in June 2022.

A great primetime miniseries (industry collaborators can't stop dreaming, & talking about).

The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack Show.

Starring Liz Cheney and her pair of Adams (Adam Kinzinger & Adam Schiff) and every disloyal Trump insider the committee has already privately met with.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all (insiders here say the production costs in preproduction are enormous).

Amazon has only seven different options for gourmet popcorn. They will need to step up their game for next month.

[MarquisdeSade1]

Night after night, the host of the most watched show in prime-time cable news uses a simple narrative to instill fear in his viewers: "They" want to control and then destroy "you."

A New York Times analysis of 1,150 episodes reveals how Tucker Carlson pushes extremist ideas and conspiracy theories into millions of households, five nights a week. He's done so since the beginning, but the show has gotten darker. Carlson, 52, has one of the largest megaphones in all of cable television. When President Donald Trump left office, Carlson filled the void on the right. Here's how the show works.

When you enter Carlson's world each night, you are among his 3 million-plus viewers and part of a Fox News audience that is 92% white and overwhelmingly older, according to Nielsen data. They are the "ruling class. " They threaten everything you believe in.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times.

And I have never seen his show but I know him from the Mclaughlin group I haven't watched a TV in probably 15 yrs.

But he is a wonderful gift from Allah.

Trump / Carlson 2024.

Aka god and the Son of god.

[PVMonger]

Night after night, the host of the most watched show in prime-time cable news uses a simple narrative to instill fear in his viewers: "They" want to control and then destroy "you."

A New York Times analysis of 1,150 episodes reveals how Tucker Carlson pushes extremist ideas and conspiracy theories into millions of households, five nights a week. He's done so since the beginning, but the show has gotten darker. Carlson, 52, has one of the largest megaphones in all of cable television. When President Donald Trump left office, Carlson filled the void on the right. Here's how the show works.

When you enter Carlson's world each night, you are among his 3 million-plus viewers — and part of a Fox News audience that is 92% white and overwhelmingly older, according to Nielsen data. They are the "ruling class. " They threaten everything you believe in.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times.

They include Democratic and Republican officials, members of the media, Big Tech executives, academics, sports and Hollywood stars, and others.

Carlson tells you over and over: They don't care about you and will do whatever they can to maintain power.

He frames nearly every topic on his show as a "ruling class" plot, from gun control to marijuana legalization to COVID-19 restrictions.

Even the Western response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Carlson, is part of the plot. Why should you hate President Vladimir Putin when they cause everything Carlson says is wrong with society? The real enemies, Carlson implies with rhetorical questions, are his usual targets — China and the USA "ruling class. " Putin, whose military has bombed Ukrainian civilians and committed atrocities, is not a foe.

It is worth noting that a USA District judge, in a 2020 ruling dismissing slander accusations against Carlson, said Fox News' lawyers argued persuasively that "any reasonable viewer 'arrive (s) with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statements he makes. " Carlson begins some segments with a grain of truth or an accurately quoted study, but then often distorts a concept to fit his narrative.

Carlson continually hammers at the idea that they care more about everything else — identity politics, Afghan refugees, preventing a border wall, Roger Stone's prison sentence — than you. Repetition and "they-you" framing are tools commonly used by populist or authoritarian leaders to create emotional connections with their followers.

Of 1,150 "Tucker Carlson Tonight" episodes that the Times analyzed, from November 2016 through 2021, Carlson invoked the "ruling class" in more than 800 shows.

The "ruling class," he says, wants you to just "shut up and obey."

Not only do they want to control you, Carlson warns, they want to destroy you and your way of life. They have various ways of doing this, he asserts, including importing immigrants from the "Third World" to replace you with more "obedient voters."

This premise is the crux of an unfounded racist conspiracy theory that falling birthrates and immigration are leading to the replacement of white people.

The theory echoes long-held beliefs of American white nationalists that a Jewish elite is orchestrating this replacement. ("Jews will not replace us," was the chant of white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.) Versions of "replacement theory" have been cited by perpetrators of mass shootings, like those who targeted a Pittsburgh synagogue and Hispanic shoppers in El Paso, Texas.

After Carlson promoted replacement theory on a show in April 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called for his firing.

The Times found that it was far from the first time Carlson had done so. He has amplified the idea of demographic replacement in more than 400 episodes.

Some of these segments begin with traditional conservative talking points about liberals being too weak on border security. But then Carlson continues on to say "by the way, this is a conspiracy by Democratic and some Republican elites to replace you," said Nicole Hemmer, a historian at Columbia University specializing in media, conservatism and the far right.

Carlson also posits that feminism and gender nonconformity threaten masculinity and contribute to falling birthrates. "You see that creation of the white male victim in Tucker Carlson's show," Hemmer said. "It's absolutely core to extremist circles."

Carlson highlighted shifting gender roles and falling birthrates in more than 200 episodes.

He also asserts that the ruling class' "obsession with race" and "equality" creates a world that favors the rights of people of color and discriminates against you, the viewer.

He spoke of discrimination against white people and minimized racism against people of color in at least 606 episodes.

Carlson uses white victimhood to play down the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the USA Capitol. He puts quotes around "insurrection," baselessly casting the riot as a "false-flag" operation instigated by federal officials to persecute conservatives. He asserts that they are punishing the mostly white crowd at the Capitol more harshly than the Black Lives Matter protesters who marched in the summer of 2020. Those rallies were largely peaceful.

White nationalists celebrate Carlson's message and success. "Does he actually believe in white nationalism?" asked are. Derek Black, a former white nationalist who has disavowed the movement. It doesn't really matter, he said, because Carlson is using the same rhetoric. Having the most popular cable news host "directly pulling" from their talking points "makes them feel like, 'Wow, we must be right, Black said.

David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (and Black's godfather), said on Twitter in 2020 that Trump should choose Carlson as his running mate. Nick Fuentes, another white nationalist, cheered Carlson's promotion of replacement theory.

Andrew Anglin, founder of the white nationalist website The Daily Stormer, has called Carlson "literally our greatest ally. " Carlson's "replacement" message — and Carlson himself — has been used to promote a White Lives Matter rally.

Carlson also uses rhetoric similar to that of men's rights activists, nativists and others on the fringes of the right. "he is a linchpin, a central node, of these different discourses, a place where they can all converge," said Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of American political rhetoric and a professor at Texas A&M University. "And he repackages them in a way that makes his audience more likely to accept them."

Since Trump left office, Carlson has become the ideological enforcer of conservative populism. He has used his megaphone to weaponize cultural issues, like critical race theory and transgender rights, that drive the conversation in school boards and state capitals. And he sometimes uses his perch to punish Republicans who contradict his narrative. After Sen. Ted Cruz, are-Texas, called the Jan. 6 riot at the USA Capitol a "violent terrorist attack," he appeared on Carlson's show to apologize.

Carlson has said he thinks about the show in installments — giving his audience one chapter tonight, one tomorrow. Many of his chapters end up in the same place: with warnings that the country — and sometimes civilization itself — is falling apart because of policies enacted by the "ruling class. " he has warned of such dire outcomes in nearly 600 episodes.

Over time, the show has evolved to become more potent and direct, an echo chamber of Carlson's narrative. Where Carlson once regularly interviewed guests who disagreed with him, he has increasingly devoted less airtime to opposing views and more to talking directly to you — through his ever-growing monologues.

Earlier episodes almost always included at least one or two guests who disagreed with Carlson on issues like immigration and global warming.

Now, nearly all guests amplify Carlson's narrative.

Fox News did not change the guest format simply because liberals refused to come on the show, as Carlson has complained. Scrutinizing ratings data, the network learned that its audience didn't actually want to hear from the other side. "From my discussions with Fox News bookers, my takeaway is that they've made the judgment that they just don't do debate segments anymore," said Richard Goodstein, a Democratic lobbyist and campaign adviser who appeared more than 90 times on Carlson's show until the summer of 2020.

Carlson now spends more and more of the show on his opening monologues, talking directly to his viewers through the camera.

By 2020, monologues typically ran longer than 10 minutes, compared with earlier years when they were shorter or nonexistent. It's not unusual now for Carlson to talk into the camera at the start of the show for upward of 15 to 20 minutes.

He used two of his longest monologues to rail against Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020.

Over the years, the show has dedicated more segments to the most divisive issues. Carlson devoted five times as many hours to such topics in 2021 as he did in 2017, the first full year of the show, according to the Times' analysis.

In a statement, Justin Wells, the show's senior executive producer, stood up for Carlson's choice of topics and language: "Tucker Carlson programming embraces diversity of thought and presents various points of view in an industry where contrarian thought and the search for truth are often ignored. Stories in 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' broadcasts and 'Tucker Carlson Originals' documentaries undergo a rigorous editorial process. We're also proud of our ongoing original reporting at a time when most in the media amplify only one point of view. ".

If it's a weeknight, Carlson will be on. Over the course of an hour, he will look you in the eye and tell you that they want to control and then destroy you.

The wingers, of course, will say that the above is "fake news" because it comes from the New York Times.

[PVMonger]

No, dummy! It's Chamberlain all over again. You are risking nuclear war by trying to appease a nuclear blackmailer. Give in and he's not going to stop at Ukraine. When are you morons going to learn?

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl...189-story.html

Oh yes, we do have a higher ground after all these wars compared to the unspeakable monstrosities he's committed in Ukraine, the country that has done absolutely nothing to deserve this shit. Fuck, compared to this, our higher ground would be so high indeed we wouldn't see anything but clouds below.

I'm reading your musings here and honestly can't understand whether you're an evil prick or just illiterate ignoramus who has never read a single history book in his life.

Not impossible, but unlikely. The next guy will likely be Patrushev, the FSB tsar, and while he is 100% evil, he's not a psycho. I like our chances.

You need to remember that Elvis is a rightwingnut. That fact already makes him a moron. Is he an evil prick? Yep. Is he an ignoramus? Yep. Has he ever read a history book? Only if the book was written in one-syllable words for a 3rd-grader.

All he and the rest of the rightwingnuts do is parrot whatever they hear from Tucker "My lawyer said not to believe anything I say" Carlson or the Orange Buffoon or the rest of winger media.

[EihTooms]

So you buy a fund and hold it? Wait, didn't you say you buy low and sell huh?

And what stocks do you own? Oh right, all of them.

This is such a crock of shit you should be on CNBC or run for office as a Dem.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/what...-it-2021-05-12

The performance of the Nasdaq Composite is often compared with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones. After the Dot Com Bubble, from 2003-2020, Nasdaq outperformed the S&P 500 in 12 out of 18 years, and the Dow Jones 14 times. In the wake of the Great Recession, 2009-2020, Nasdaq outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones ten times.

So you did not buy that NASDAQ thing and have enough to retire in Thailand? LOL. Bullshit. You are on a government pension or sold your house and took advantage of California's bubbilicuous housing market..

Seriously. Did you even read what you quoted from my post before you replied to it?

Um, no I did "not" just buy and hold a fund. It's right there in your quote of mine.

No, my "Nasdaq thing" was not whether or not I recommend anyone buy a fund tracking the Nasdaq. I have no idea where on earth you came up with that.

The discussion was about whether or not the Nasdaq is a meangful measure for what the broad USA stock market is doing on a given hour, day, week, month, quarter or year. And it is not, as your link makes the case that, historically, the Nasdaq performance differs significantly from what was happening in the S&P 500, the DOW and I would certainly add the Wilshire 5000. By the end of the year, all three of those superior measures for the broad USA stock market are often fairly close to each other. But the Nasdaq can often be on another planet relative to those others, up or down.

By the way, below is the report and results of that bet Buffett made. It was a wipe out in favor of Buffett's prediction. And that was a total no-brainer "buy and hold" Index fund strategy vs the professionally actively managed funds and portfolios, which, again, as you can see in your quote of my post, I did not do. Doing what I clearly stated I did (and what you quoted) produced even better results than the contest strategy Buffett employed that beat the snot out of the professionally actively managed portfolios:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...won/402823002/

[MarquisdeSade1]

Perfect example of the twisted winger Repub mindset:

When Dems produce record high or long economic growth, millions more jobs than multiple Repubs before and after them and record high stock market gains, they are "turds, doing everything wrong, the economy is tanking"!

And when their beloved Repubs produce Great Depressions / Recessions, massive jobs destruction in the millions upon millions and Mega Bear Market Crashes, they are "my lord and savior, better than the Dems, the Best economy ever"!

LOL. Hopeless to try to teach them otherwise. Quite deserving of that Sado-Masochist identity. I really don't give a shit about their Masochist tendencies. It's their Sadism they inflict on everyone else with their votes that is annoying.

The GOPers are trying to destroy democracy again.

Oops I misspelled Democrats.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022...-a-fiasco.html

[EihTooms]

I'm reading your musings here and honestly can't understand whether you're an evil prick or just illiterate ignoramus who has never read a single history book in his life.

Go with "illiterate ignoramus. ".

He actually just quoted me saying:

However, in order to do even better, to beat the market, it will depend on if and when you buy and if and when you sell, right? That is what I did as well. I did not just "buy and hold. " I managed to accurately prognosticate a couple of market tops and market bottoms over the decades and shifted my money into a money market safe haven at or near the top, wait out the decline and bought back at or near the bottom.

And replied with this:

So you buy a fund and hold it? Wait, didn't you say you buy low and sell huh?

Uh, then he followed that with more incoherent winger Repub blather that further proved that even if he reads something, such as what he actually quoted from me, there is zero chance he'd understand what he read.

[Paulie97]

No, dummy! It's Chamberlain all over again. You are risking nuclear war by trying to appease a nuclear blackmailer. Give in and he's not going to stop at Ukraine. When are you morons going to learn?

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl...189-story.html

Oh yes, we do have a higher ground after all these wars compared to the unspeakable monstrosities he's committed in Ukraine, the country that has done absolutely nothing to deserve this shit. Fuck, compared to this, our higher ground would be so high indeed we wouldn't see anything but clouds below.

I'm reading your musings here and honestly can't understand whether you're an evil prick or just illiterate ignoramus who has never read a single history book in his life.

Not impossible, but unlikely. The next guy will likely be Patrushev, the FSB tsar, and while he is 100% evil, he's not a psycho. I like our chances.

Tucker and his sheeple have been sucking up to Vlad for so long it's just too late to turn back and save face, regardless of the widespread war crimes, fundamental genocide, and what's ultimately at stake. Plus the world is a community. Isolationism though it sounds good doesn't function in practice. That's because evil exists, and if it's ignored or appeased it will grow and eventually deliver itself on your doorstep.

P.S. It's interesting how far away many of these modern so called conservatives have wandered from Reagan. They'd do well to study his philosophy on foreign policy, are a number of solid publications out there.

[ScatManDoo]

Never let poor trash near the levers of power, they will sell out their voters faster than you can blink (akin to allowing a heroin addict guard your heroin stash) case in point Biden and the southern border.

Don't think he doesn't fully expect payment for that, how much per million of 3rd world rapists and murderers.

2 million crossed in 2020.

2 million crossed in 2020.

Seems like that would be caused by TrumpShit.

Now that MariMark is typing text (instead of just links from tin hat generals).

There's lots of rewrites needed.

[Xpartan]

You are risking nuclear war, destroying the world economy, and for what?

No, dummy! It's Chamberlain all over again. You are risking nuclear war by trying to appease a nuclear blackmailer. Give in and he's not going to stop at Ukraine. When are you morons going to learn?

It is now, and has been, accepted since Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 that appeasement of sworn enemies and bullies doesn't work. They interpret it as a sure sign of weakness and vulnerability. It makes them swaggeringly surer of their strength and others' weakness and vulnerability.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl...189-story.html

He is an asshole fighting a stupid war just the USSR in Afghanistan and like us in Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Iraq. Do you really believe the USA had the high ground after those wars?

Oh yes, we do have a higher ground after all these wars compared to the unspeakable monstrosities he's committed in Ukraine, the country that has done absolutely nothing to deserve this shit. Fuck, compared to this, our higher ground would be so high indeed we wouldn't see anything but clouds below.

I'm reading your musings here and honestly can't understand whether you're an evil prick or just illiterate ignoramus who has never read a single history book in his life.

You get rid of Putin, and the next guy may be worse.

Not impossible, but unlikely. The next guy will likely be Patrushev, the FSB tsar, and while he is 100% evil, he's not a psycho. I like our chances.

[Elvis 2008]

The latter is what the fund I have owned, bought and sold for decades tracks. The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. Well, I tend to rebalance that one at about 90% of my equity holdings with a Global Equity Fund at about 10%.

There has been little reason to take individual stock risks over the decades in order to do well in the market and numerous studies have shown it is a superior way to win in the market for most investors anyway. Unless you just enjoy researching, speculating and working on it every day or week, in and out and all that stuff. I don't. But name a stock, yeah, I own it too.

Naturally, as anyone would know, a simple "buy and hold" strategy of such a fund can only match the market, minus a fraction of 1% for fees and such, which historically is still quite good and still beats the majority of actively managed funds and portfolios with no effort at all.

However, in order to do even better, to beat the market, it will depend on if and when you buy and if and when you sell, right? That is what I did as well. I did not just "buy and hold. " I managed to accurately prognosticate a couple of market tops and market bottoms over the decades and shifted my money into a money market safe haven at or near the top, wait out the decline and bought back in at or near the bottom.

So you buy a fund and hold it? Wait, didn't you say you buy low and sell huh?

And what stocks do you own? Oh right, all of them.

This is such a crock of shit you should be on CNBC or run for office as a Dem.

On the Nasdaq thing, I'm sure even you must be able to figure out an index is not useful as a meaningful measure of the total USA stock market just because it has some big stocks in it. In fact, the more narrow the index and bigger the stocks in it, the least useful for that purpose it is likely to be. But it is a fine measure for how those particular big stocks are doing on an hourly basis. If that matters to you.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/what...-it-2021-05-12

The performance of the Nasdaq Composite is often compared with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones. After the Dot Com Bubble, from 2003-2020, Nasdaq outperformed the S&P 500 in 12 out of 18 years, and the Dow Jones 14 times. In the wake of the Great Recession, 2009-2020, Nasdaq outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones ten times.

So you did not buy that NASDAQ thing and have enough to retire in Thailand? LOL. Bullshit. You are on a government pension or sold your house and took advantage of California's bubbilicuous housing market.

You do not know squat about the stock market, and you are not investing in Biden. You are a hypocrite who is not putting his money where his mouth is.

Biden is destroying the economy. I do not like it, but I am going to profit from it. I have bought the names I mentioned SDOW, SPXU, and SQQQ two weeks ago, and they are up 20%. These things have the potential to triple and with Biden in office, the potential to go up 10 X.

It is sad, but this is the closest thing to a sure thing as I have seen in a decade. The last time I made a bet was on DTO a double short on oil when oil was $100 a barrel and the USA kept increasing production while the street was talking peak oil.

When you have inflation, you cut spending and Biden is spending like a drunken sailor.

[PVMonger]

Of course, he is a world leader you dummy. His country has veto power in the UN. How stupid can you be?

And you have not learn a fucking thing. Did getting rid of the Taliban make things better? Nope, wasted billions. Saddam Hussein? Nope although the standard of living in Iraq is finally coming close to when Saddam Hussein in charge. Libya? Nope way worse. Syria? Billions more wasted. Ukraine? Billions in aid. For what? Peace or continued conflict?

You are risking nuclear war, destroying the world economy, and for what? Because you do not like a dictator in a foreign country. How does that affect you?

He is an asshole fighting a stupid war just the USSR in Afghanistan and like us in Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Iraq. Do you really believe the USA had the high ground after those wars? That you morons want to risk nuclear war for nothing tells me how stupid you people really are.

You get rid of Putin, and the next guy may be worse.

So, what would you do? Give Ukraine to Putin just like Donnie would have done? Then give Putin Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Moldova too? And after that? Since the Soviet Union once occupied Poland, the Balkans, Hungary, Romania and half of Germany, give Putin those countries too? Geez, what an idiot! And a very typical rightwingnut idiot with enough IQ points to decorate a domino.

Or, would you have just bombed the Russian troops before they even invaded?

Typical Republican response. Complain, complain and complain some more without offering any concrete proposals. That the QOP playbook.

[MarquisdeSade1]

Bubba Barry Hussein and Biden 3 fucking turds.

They should never be trusted with power, they are all poor trash.

And sold this country out for a few pennies.

All 3 belong in the same cell so they can ass fuck each other for the next 30 yrs.

Instead of fucking the American people.

Case in point Bozo just gave Barry Hussein 100 million WTF how the fuk is that legal?

Not for nothing I might add.

But for being a good little uncle tom house slave, now sit in the corner and keep your mouth shut.

Like the good little ***** he is!

I typed next 30 yrs, I meant last 30 yrs!

[MarquisdeSade1]

Perfect example of the twisted winger Repub mindset:

When Dems produce record high or long economic growth, millions more jobs than multiple Repubs before and after them and record high stock market gains, they are "turds, doing everything wrong, the economy is tanking"!

And when their beloved Repubs produce Great Depressions / Recessions, massive jobs destruction in the millions upon millions and Mega Bear Market Crashes, they are "my lord and savior, better than the Dems, the Best economy ever"!

LOL. Hopeless to try to teach them otherwise. Quite deserving of that Sado-Masochist identity. I really don't give a shit about their Masochist tendencies. It's their Sadism they inflict on everyone else with their votes that is annoying.

Why did Bozo which is worth 150+ billion just give Barry Hussein an unemployed loser from the hood on the south side of Chicago $100,000,000 usd for no reason at all?

Hint its called payback, as was $60,000,000 usd from nextflix.

How did Bubba get $150,000,000 usd in the bank after leaving the oval office homeless?

Never let poor trash near the levers of power, they will sell out their voters faster than you can blink (akin to allowing a heroin addict guard your heroin stash) case in point Biden and the southern border.

Don't think he doesn't fully expect payment for that, how much per million of 3rd world rapists and murderers.

2 million crossed in 2020.

Millions of jobs for whom? Illegal aliens? At slave wages.

Hunger games for everyone else!!

They want to turn the USA into a 3rd world like Mexico.

With a taco cart on every corner.

Or like that shithole LosAngeles you fled!!

[Elvis 2008]

What the fuck is wrong with wingnuts and their insane and completely illogical affection for that beast?

Putin is not a "world leader". 20+ years in power have turned a deeply corrupt plutocrat into a delusional maniac. No, "all" will not be well, but the removal of this particular demon would almost immediately end the war and stop the threat of a nuclear holocaust.

Morons will be morons.

Of course, he is a world leader you dummy. His country has veto power in the UN. How stupid can you be?

And you have not learn a fucking thing. Did getting rid of the Taliban make things better? Nope, wasted billions. Saddam Hussein? Nope although the standard of living in Iraq is finally coming close to when Saddam Hussein in charge. Libya? Nope way worse. Syria? Billions more wasted. Ukraine? Billions in aid. For what? Peace or continued conflict?

You are risking nuclear war, destroying the world economy, and for what? Because you do not like a dictator in a foreign country. How does that affect you?

He is an asshole fighting a stupid war just the USSR in Afghanistan and like us in Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Iraq. Do you really believe the USA had the high ground after those wars? That you morons want to risk nuclear war for nothing tells me how stupid you people really are.

You get rid of Putin, and the next guy may be worse.