Catbertcat

Not here for the outrage, snark, or to join the virtue signalers. Enamored with the music of Tool. Fan of AC Milan’s Captain America! 🤩 oh, and, Purdue bball!

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@PurdueBballGuy The tribalism shown in our politics was caused by the growth in executive power. It is bolstered by an ever expanding federal bureaucracy. Shrink the government, reduce its influence, and we can return to less hostility.

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@boriquagato An on target analysis.

Since you���re quoting someone extensively who made an excellent point that is the foundation for your post, might you include a link so as to hat tip the creator?

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@20th_Centurygal Tool

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@herculezg So much negativity in the replies. I worry less about Pulisic’s “attitude” and more about his fragility. Hard to excel in WC if playing while hurt.

[Denn Dunham @DennD68]

Boston - Foreplay / Longtime - Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, New Jersey - June 17, 1979

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@MiguelM73104161 Wish it wasn’t lip synced.

[All American @AllAmerican202]

You’re leaving now, it’s in your eyes

There’s no disguising it …

[The Doctor @DrGuitar]

The greatest guitar player of all time lays it out for you!

[🎸 Rock History 🎸 @historyrock_]

Happy heavenly birthday to Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries, who would have turned 55.

Her voice was totally one-of-a-kind. Always remembered 🕊️

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@avidseries @memeticsisyphus I think you’re being naive. They are avoiding or obfuscating the issue because they know it’s unpopular.

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@GlennThrush One of my favorites from this great band: https://t.co/ZCgX0yq0M3

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@colewhogan Would be interesting to compare to the youth energizing the DSA.

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@20th_Centurygal Give me power and articulation over range breadth. Ann Wilson of Heart for example.

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@EdEdkenny34250 @LPDonovan New strategy??? See Spanberger

[Erick Erickson @EWErickson]

The clearest evidence that government intervention raises prices can be found within the current administration. A tariff is a tax. It falls hardest on the working families every faction claims to champion. For a year, the public was assured that the tariffs were not raising prices or slowing wage growth, that the claims were a fabrication, and that the number at the bottom of the receipt was imagined. Then the President himself removed the tariffs on coffee, bananas, beef, and eggs. He would have had no reason to do so had those tariffs not raised the price of coffee, bananas, beef, and eggs. He deserves credit for the reversal. He does not deserve the pretense that the tariff was ever anything other than a tax borne by the consumer. Even now, wage growth has slipped again behind inflation, but we no longer have cheap toasters. We just don’t have the manufacturing base they promised.

This is the fundamental weakness of populism. It possesses no governing philosophy, only a disposition. It moves from one grievance to the next, and each time it acts to remedy a single complaint, it creates others that must later be remedied in turn. It resolves that cheap imports are destroying jobs, so it taxes the imports, and then expresses surprise when the toaster, the washing machine, and the burrito all cost more. It demands that the government make housing affordable while defending the guarantees that made housing unaffordable. It insists at once on lower prices and greater intervention, and those two aims cannot be reconciled. Intervention prevails, and prices rise.

https://t.co/8cQ35nxHsf

[Wesley Yang @wesyang]

Jason Arday’s utility is that you can defenestrate him and thus pretend that the rest of these folx are real scholars

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@TheFieldOf68 @UConnMBB Gawd, this rambling is difficult to listen to.

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@HalSnarr @iowahawkblog @NBA @WNBA Yep. No institutional sense of urgency!

[Shawn Hendrix @TheShawnHendrix]

This may be the coolest thing I have seen in a while. Doing art on a white board that spins. Amazing how it looks at the end.

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

Not the way I planned on spending my afternoon, but 7,600 comments should not be ignored! Bots, trolls and personal attacks notwithstanding, the critics of yesterday’s post were dominated by a large and vocal contingent who rushed to remind me that there’s “a difference between socialism and communism,” an obvious indication that they didn’t actually read the post.

Shelley Armour writes… “Mike! You know there is a difference between democratic socialism and communism, right?”

Hi, Shelley. Yes, I know there’s a difference, and I understand what the difference is. The larger point, and the fundamental flaw with your comment, is that you seem to believe the candidates within the Democratic Socialist Party are both “democratic and socialist" simply because that’s the name of their club. Well, maybe some of them are. I really couldn’t say. What I can tell you for sure is that more than a few have called for the complete dismantling of capitalism, free markets, representative government, property rights, borders, police, prisons, and the Constitution in general. My post referred to them, as well as a number of elected Democrats who have agreed to campaign on their behalf – including Gavin Newsom, who said, "The Democratic Party must accept the DSA in order to take back the Congress.” His words, not mine.

Tracey Steele writes…“Wow! I cannot believe Mike Rowe said this. He has a huge reach, and he is actually spouting the word “communism” like it’s the 1950s! Wow Wow Wow!”

Wow indeed, Tracey, and thanks for noticing the size of my reach! (Contrary to popular belief, size does matter!) To say it again, I am not the one “spouting” communism or conflating socialists and communists. The word is being “spouted” by members of the DSA who are using it to describe themselves. I am not accusing them; I am quoting them.

John Engles… Hey Rowe, what’s the difference between the Communists who want to run the country and the Nazi/fascist who currently is?

Several differences, John, but the only one relevant to this conversation is the fact that the communists currently running for office have clearly identified themselves as such. They do not dispute or reject the label. They embrace it. It is who they are, who they claim to be, and who they want to be. The president, on the other hand, has never claimed to be a Nazi or a fascist. That doesn’t mean he isn't, but it is worth noting he has rejected the accusation outright. Obviously, you are entitled to that opinion and the right to share it publicly, thanks to our Constitution. Unlike in a fascist, Nazi, or communist regime. (Also worth noting, Nazis and fascists are not the same thing.)

Chris Tomaloff writes… “Kinda like how the political right didn’t shout down the extreme rhetoric coming from their candidates?”

No, Chris, not like that at all. In the video I shared, we saw examples of prominent Democrats saying things like, “We need to elect more communists!” (Cea Weaver, Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office.) Mamdani himself literally tweeted, "Each according to their need, each according to their ability." That’s a direct quote from the Communist Manifesto.

But what exactly is the corollary from the right? Are prominent Republicans tweeting, “We need to elect more Nazis! We need to elect more fascists! Eat the poor!” I don’t think so. John Engles may think Trump is fascist and a Nazi, but Trump disagrees, and so do a majority of voters. Communists, on the other hand, say it loud and say it proud. I’m inclined to take them at their word.

Beto Ojeda… “Mike has always leaned to the Trumpian view of things but never states it, so as not to alienate anyone, but we know how to read between the lines. This “communist” talk is McCarthyism 2.0.”

I wasn’t around in the 1950s, Beto, but from what I’ve read, it was indeed a very difficult time to be a communist in this country. Lots of private citizens were dragged before Congress, made to take “loyalty oaths," and blacklisted in their places of work. I can’t justify it or condone it, but I can explain it. We had just fought a hot war against fascism and Nazism and just begun a Cold War against a communist regime. The existence of an organized Communist Party in this country at such a time strained the limits of tolerance. But do you really think we’re less tolerant today than we were seventy-five years ago? Do you really believe my comments about communists who claim to be communists are synonymous with another Red Scare? If you haven’t noticed, Chris, no one in the DSA, including the communists, is being dragged before Congress and made to swear a loyalty oath to the Constitution. Today, a communist in America can run for office…with the endorsement of the governor of California! And the tacit approval of a major political party! Seems to me we’re about as far from McCarthyism as we can get.

As for my desire not to alienate anyone, I suppose I am guilty of that. I run a foundation that is open to people of all political beliefs, and we’ve assisted lots of Americans who lean to the left. I also know for a fact that many Democrats have supported mikeroweWORKS historically, and I have no desire to run them off. But do you really have to “read between the lines” to understand where I’m coming from?

True, I’ve never endorsed a candidate or publicly encouraged people to vote. But I’ve been very transparent about the fact that I’m a registered Independent who favors policies and programs that often align with conservative principles. Obviously, I would not characterize those conservative principles as “Trumpian,” because a) they were around long before him, b) Trump is not a conservative, and c) I do not agree with or support everything the President says and does. So, is it possible, Beto, that your accusation is rooted in the fact that I have never publicly denounced the president to your satisfaction? Is it possible you think I'm a Trumper, simply because I've never called him a fascist, or a Nazi, or a liar, or a conman, or a traitor, or whatever else you believe him to be?

Gretchen Seipp… Mike, the fact that you still act as though you’re not political after all this time is a bit ridiculous. I still support your work and foundation because I believe in it, but the folksy act has worn thin.

Aw, shucks, Gretchen. Folksy? Lil' ole me?
Honestly, how am I acting as if I am “not political?” This entire conversation is the very definition of “political.”

Christopher Pugh… I would have voted for Mike Rowe and Freddie a few years ago before he went full-on MAGA, and I’m all in favor of his project, but it’s pretty clear the political direction that he’s moved in and the money trail that has influenced it.

It’s Freddy, not Freddie. (I don’t much care, but he’s a terrier and particular about such things.) As for the “full-on MAGA” moniker, is there something I did specifically to earn that designation? Is there some kind of general definition you can share? Or, are you coming from the same place as Beto? Is calling me “Full-On MAGA" your way of saying that I’ve failed to condemn Trump to your satisfaction?

For the record, MRW is supported by liberals and conservatives alike. I have no idea what “money trail” you are referring to. Also, regarding my personal politics, think about the implications of what I wrote. I said that the Democrats have been given a gift – an opportunity to appear reasonable by speaking the truth to their own party, just as Bill Maher has done. All they have to do is distance themselves from candidates who have called for the complete dismantlement of our Constitution. All they have to do is say, “Hold on, comrade. Our tent is not that big. We respect your right to hate America, but we don’t want you in our party, and we will not support your candidacy.”

If they say that, I think a lot of Independents would see them as they see John Fetterman, who has, in the eyes of many voters, become the most “rational” Democrat currently in office. If they don’t – if they actually welcome communist candidates into their party – then I’m afraid the Democrats, by default, will offer the American people a very simple choice in November – a party that disavows communism vs. a party that doesn’t. I think such a choice would be very positive for Republicans because I don’t think most Americans want to align themselves with a Democratic Party that welcomes communists. The question for you, Chris, is why would a “Full-On MAGA” like me encourage Democrats to act in a way that would disadvantage the Republican Party? And the answer is simple – it’s because I support the existence of a Democratic Party that believes America is still a fundamentally good place.

I think there’s a lot of room for improvement in our country, and I believe the best way to realize those improvements is for Democrats and Republicans to have continuous, robust and public debate about all the issues. But if one of those parties is affirmatively determined to transform our democratic republic into a communist state, then we’re no longer debating the various ways to make our country better; we’re debating the merits of destroying it. And really, what’s the point of tolerating that?

America is already a big tent, filled with hundreds of millions of people with wildly differing views and lots of political parties that represent those views. We’ve got the Green Party, the American Freedom Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Constitution Party, and of course, the Communist Party USA, as well as the Democratic Socialist Party. America’s tent is so big, we can even tolerate fringe parties like the KKK, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and so forth. Why then, does Gavin Newsom want to make room in the Democratic tent for socialists and communists? There’s only one reason, and he’s already spelled it out for us – he believes the Democrats need them to win back the Congress. I think it’s a bad bet for the Democrats and for America. And if a prominent Republican reached out to the KKK with the same “big tent” offer, you’d better believe my vote would be in play.

Michael Tillman… When are you going to throw your hat into the ring, Mr. Rowe?

Ha! When it no longer fits my head!

[Catbertcat @Catbertcat1]

@walterkirn Just finished it. Kirn is searingly unforgiving of his own naïveté. Nonetheless, there are some wonderfully written passages. For example: