The Frankish Reich

I'm certainly not "accusing it of being full of hate." I'm accusing it of being full of sh!te. Guy who said to everyone at Fox that he "hates Trump passionately" sucks up to him for 90 minutes like all of that never happened.

True. A serious politician might think about putting import duties on OPEC oil to counteract OPEC's (read: Saudi's) manipulation of the world oil market. Even if Biden were to open up drilling on all kinds of marginal oil fields, those wells wouldn't be drilled when the Saudis can simply manipulate the price of oil lower, making it not economically feasible for drillers to exploit those fields. This is the core of our oil dependency problem: it is not a free market, and it is not a free market because of our friends the Saudis.

No doubt they worked hard, and they put their money where their mouths were, paying to send Vivek to a Catholic High School and then onto Harvard. The whole "Brahmin" line of criticism strikes me as stupid and an attempt to subtly call attention to "not one of us." Out of curiosity: is he a vegetarian? If so, how does he avoid all those meat-eating Iowa campaign events?

I'm glad you like your journalists as shallow and self-serving as our politicians.

True.

Purdy was so good last year - and the team was so close to a Super Bowl with him at QB - that it would have been foolish to start all over again with Lance at QB. And if you're going with Purdy at QB, Darnold as backup means you keep running the same offense. And I have a weird feeling that Darnold will get some starts this year and that with that offense he'll suddenly look more like Purdy 2022 than Darnold 2017-21. Lance was going to be a totally different type of QB. We still have no idea whether he could do it. He's a good low cost/high ceiling lottery ticket for some QB deficient team. I gotta give credit to the Niners brass for ignoring the sunk cost and moving on.

Geez, I'm so sorry I missed it. The Passionate Hate of Tucker set aside as he bends over for self-aggrandizement. I hope Elon provided the lube.

Here's an indication of where the Republican voters are on this whole "Christian nation" thing and the lack of fealty to the constitution: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/21/most-republicans-support-declaring-the-united-states-a-christian-nation-00057736#:~:text=Christian nationalism%2C a belief that,to the 2022 midterm elections. We followed up by asking: “Would You Favor or Oppose the United States Officially Declaring the United States to be a Christian Nation?” The findings were striking. Overall, 62 percent of respondents said they opposed such a declaration, including 83 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans. Fully 61 percent of Republicans supported declaring the United States a Christian nation. In other words, even though over half of Republicans previously said such a move would be unconstitutional, a majority of GOP voters would still support this declaration.

too long; didn't watch So I'm assuming it was all sweetness and light and a Tucker/Trump love fest. So cute that they made up

So Tucker fans, please give me the exec summary: did anyone mention the elephant (and I don't mean the orange one) in the room, the "I hate him passionately" thing?

I just assume Vivek is running for VP. He provides no reason for voting for him instead of Trump other than "I'm young" And of course he won't say anything remotely contrary to Trump The gods only know where they'll go next.

Yeah, we have a delightful storied history in America with literacy and civics tests to qualify to vote. https://americanhistory.si.edu/democracy-exhibition/vote-voice/keeping-vote/state-rules-federal-rules/literacy-tests

I just think it's fair to always edit Vivek by substituting the plural "gods" for the singular "God."

There but for the grace of the gods go I

So why is he saying this "God" stuff more than anyone other than Mike Pence (say what you will about him, he is obviously a true believer). It's ok to be in a political debate without bringing up God ... you brought it up Vivek. Maybe it's fair to ask "what do you mean?" "What is your religious faith/tradition?" "How does it fit within the Judeo-Christian background of our founders?"

I doubt "The Left" is saying "You must be a Christian to lead our nation." They are saying you are a lying pharma bro masquerading as a pseudo-Christian.

But Obama wasn't a Muslim. He was a Christian. Nikki Haley was raised a Sikh. She is a Christian. They have apparently accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior, which is something the religious right thinks is important in our leadership. That's why Vivek is compelled to say "God is real." But he is not a Christian. Different.

I think as properly conceived today that's correct. It's certainly not correct with respect to Hindu nationalists like Modi. And Vivek's second talking point: "there are two genders," is weirdly defensive given all the gender switching gods of Hindu mythology. Again: not fair game if he comes out and says "I was raised a Hindu, and raised with a moral code that respects life, family, and an ethical way of living." But that's not what he's saying. There's a word for what he's doing: lying. EDIT: https://www.amazon.com/Hindus-Alternative-History-Wendy-Doniger/dp/014311669X Recommended. Really good huge book (I admit I didn't finish it). It's really impossible to reconcile this with the capital G "God is real."

So the real question for Vivek is: why on earth would we vote for you instead of Trump? I heard nothing to separate him from Trump other than "I'm younger." As the surprising rising star of the Republican Party, he's about to get a lot of light shined on his past. His history as an investor is fair game. And yes, he did support Martin Shkreli, the pharma bro. Take a close look at what that guy did, exploiting loopholes in the regulatory system and jacking up drug prices for ordinary people. Some illegal things, some legal but not exactly honorable things.

In case people don't understand: I don't think it matters. It has often been said that the only real religious bias left in American politics is against atheists. I would vote for an atheist or a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Christian, as long as they are competent, reasonably decent people. But this guy has a weird talking point meant to appeal to the Republican religious right: "God is real." That doesn't even make sense coming from a practicing Hindu, at least without any explanation. It is certainly not the capital G God of the Republican religious right. All these righteous Republicans love talking about our Judeo-Christian values - values they say informed our constitution and form of government. Those are not the values of Vivek's religion or upbringing. Does he share them as a matter of philosophy but not belief? None of it makes sense logically. It is pandering. It is bs. On that we agree.

Yes. But that doesn't mean he has to be a smarmy pandering ass. Twice he mentioned "God." Ending with his #1 talking point: "God is real." The other candidates didn't want to go there, but again the obvious question is "what God or gods are you even talking about?" Clearly not the God of Abraham, of the Jews, of the Christians, of the Muslims. So I call him out not for being a non-Christian, not for being a Brahmin, but for being a shameless bs artist.

I’m kind of speed watching it on delay. Main impressions: - Vivek is a major a-hole. Doesn’t come off as smart, but as a smartass. - Pence is more forceful, better prepared than I recall. He went in big on the Christian thing. It’s Iowa, it’s his only hope. - Scott is the anti-Vivek. Good manners, nice guy. Which means that as a Republican he will be out of the race after NH. - Haley is fine. Too reasonable for the current Republican mindset. VP. By the way, in case anyone missed it Michael Wolff, author of 2 Trump books who had remarkable access, strongly hints that she had a little thing with Trump. Eeew. - Christie is running because he hates Trump and wants to remain a favorite of the pundit class. - Burgum: far too normal for todays Republican Party. Mitt without the Mormonism - DeSantis: he is, indeed, awkward. Attack dog doesn’t suit him. Toast.

Boycott!

I don't have an issue with the fake (or to be more accurate, exaggerated) accent. All country singers do that, just like all old British blooze singers did that Mick Jagger thing that (they thought) made them sound black. A lot of hip hop artists today put on that fake New York black accent too. But yeah ... something tells me there's more than a little astroturf in the sudden emergence of this grassroots troubador....

I agree. That's why (until the new Trump Tariff proposal) I hated Elizabeth Warren's idea of adding some kind of "wealth tax" to the income tax and the death tax. I thought that was the low point of of tax policy proposals from nominally legitimate candidates. But now we have a new winner!