Thursday, March 30, 2017

Ron Fournier Is An Algorithm Designed By An Idiot



A pernicious flu-like bug has laid me low, so I will get back to proper 12th Blogiversary fundraising soon.

Until then, behold the glory that is paid, respectable Beltway "journalism".

Behold, a Tip Jar!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Get well soon, Driftglass. We want you on that wall! We need you on that wall! ;)

-- Not George Soros

Andrew Johnston said...

The thing is, I have some sympathy for the whole Both Sides Do It thing. It seems fair that there's no one superior belief structure and human foibles are just that - universal parts of the human experience. In, let's say...2000, there was still a case to be made for Both Siderism. But at this point, it only makes sense if you completely ignore the actual policies, outcomes, internal structures and rhetoric of the two parties. Put simply, when you're looking at two groups, and one of them is eagerly following a man who is rubbing a mixture of the blood of the innocent and his own leavings all over his face while muttering ethnic slurs in a dead tongue, it's okay to say "You know, I don't think that Both Sides are equally bad." Reflexively blaming both sides isn't consistency, it's moral cretinism.

As for the Times piece...I feel like we're seeing the birth of a genre that will be very popular over the next month or so, cropping up again like cold sores every time the President poops the bed. You could perhaps Shorter it as "All Donald Trump needs to do to become a great and unifying President is turn into Barack Obama." Most of it seems to come from that same subset of Sensible Centrist who bought into the "great outsider" myth and are sure that the master dealmaker (yes, I know) is just one little thing away from becoming the Bestest President in the History of History. I feel like it's a product of cognitive dissonance - these idiots had their perfect President for eight years, didn't get the results they expected because One Side Did It, and now are pretending really, really hard that the Crowned Cheeto is what they really wanted.

Robt said...

And Trump is going to make Mexico pay for that wal, we need you on.!

has it been officially proven that the Ron Twit comment was not Trump pretending to be Ron?

I have doubts and require convincing.

trgahan said...

Fournier is simply using the third and fourth definitions Both Sides Do It:

3. a characterization of DC when Republicans are embarrassingly failing to govern in order to deflect blame. (ie. current healthcare, budget, anything Trump has tried through EO. Also explains headlines of "Congress Votes to Strip (insert basic human right here)" when the vote was straight party line)

4. a characterization of DC when Democrats are succeeding to govern in order to artificially inflate Republican governmental ability.

My rhetorical question is why is to so easy for me to find out what Mr. Fournier thinks, but more difficult to learn what actual congressional Democrats are actually doing in congress?