Another Glass Menagerie

1.  I have contemplated Marie Y.  (all day yesterday)  IMO she did very well.  This lady reminds me of women I have known who were basically secular nuns.  Conservative everything; hair do, clothes (tasteful), carefully limited comments, no sniveling , a willingness to smile at them after the Republicans decided that the best thing would be to praise her.  She is a winsome creature of obviously high intellect.  I have looked around the internet and see no one who claims she is gay.  She seems to live alone, alone with her work.  She tried living with her 88 year old mother three years ago but that did not last.  What would the old girl have done with herself in Kiev with her daughter working all the time?   So, the maman went home to the States.  Marie is still employed as a Career Ambassador (a high rank) in the Foreign Service of of the United States  She is currently assigned at Georgetown U.   It is too bad for the Dems that she is ineligible to be president because of her foreign birth.   What is her gripe?  She lost the love of her life, diplomatic work.  A word about the Foreign Service in general might be needed.  To hear these stuck up creatures praised  for their resolute service in "dangerous hardship posts" is funny.  Whatever can be shipped in for their comfort is sent.  Ask Ambassador William Taylor, a once upon a time infantry company commander, or Ambassador Ron Neumann (rifle platoon leader in VN) if he believes the Foreign Service suffers much except from thwarted ambition.

2.  Adam Schiff.  The GOP should work on weaponizing his nasty little personality against the Democrats.  The spectacle on TeeVee yesterday of Schiff repeatedly gavelling  GOP members into silence was most instructive.  He is from Burbank?  Land of Johnny Carson?  How does that happen?  Tell me.

3.  IMO the Dems have an entertaining but ineffective set of candidates for president;  Joe Biden - senile, corrupt and nasty, Bernie - a hypocritical member of the rentier class, a man who reminds me of the early American communists who flocked to the USSR to fight for the revolution (John Reed, etc.), We are all just waiting for Bernie's physical collapse,  Warren, while waiting for Bernie to go, is burdened by her history of obvious falsehoods and a lack of understanding of basic economics.  If she gets the nomination, she will lose because there are just not enough dummies who can't do arithmetic,   Bloomberg - Nah!  Deval Patrick, the man who is an enemy of capitalism and is now employed by a hedge fund?  Nah!  Buttigiege is their best bet.  His gayness, cuteness, smartness, veteranness,  "family" manness, moderateness, all point to He bein' da man.  If he were smart enough to pick the lovely Tulsi for VP, he might well win

4.  Trump.  A NY City junk yard business dog  incapable of real feelings for other people.  He sees them all as tools to advance his agenda, namely himself.  His pretensions to patriotism or nationalism are unconvincing for me.  Policy positions are just public relations for him, but he knows he must perform on these implied promises or fatally lose support.  He said recently that his major failing in his first three years was "personnel."  I would agree with that.  He is really an empty suit.  People do not give their all for empty suits.  Trump can be beaten but not by running dotards, communists or obvious phonies against him  pl

Comments

[Jack]

LOL!

[ISL]

yeah, but one scrape and the bacteria hides in some organ from the antibiotics, and then years later moves into the blood, and eating well and exercising, dont count for squat when bacteria decide you are better worm food. Modern antibiotics and the coffin stays empty, and thanks to insurance, the $30,000 for the hospital are water under the bridge.

Someone with a crappy Obamacare policy with 30% co pay and a 15k family deductible will postpone a few days hoping it gets better, and when the bacteria win there is a funeral. I have friends in the Bayou. Its a 4-5 hour drive to that free hospital and they aint got money for the hotel. Maybe America should evacuate to the cities and import food from Canada with money we print like seawater until y'all cant afford your own food?

I dont know ofs stats on how many the health insurance industry has killed by denying or delaying treatment. Or hospitals who pass them on to die in the ambulance since no insurance. Or who died at home because they couldn't afford medical bankruptcy (USA # 1 cause) on the family. I do know US lifespan is decreasing.

Still it is not news to me that if you have money anything is possible.

[English Outsider]

A charming woman, Colonel, and I'm sure worthy of a five star General.  But that was a heavy duty job, out in the Ukraine.  Lots of bodies to bury and lots of strings to pull.  Did someone else do all that, while she sat in the front office and demurely looked away?

And what was the grievous injury she was so clearly suffering from?   Trump tweeted against her?  That must be a fate shared by half the United States by now.  And what was a senior career diplomat doing getting mixed up in the circus I saw?

I couldn't make her out at all. 

[divadab]

@factotum: you say "Spending money on a strong military presence benefits us all"

Oh no not I! Complete and utter codswallop. The liars who invaded Iraq on our dime for the benefit of who knows spent cumulatively $6 trillion on that corrupt and illegal effort. That's about five years' worth of personal income tax revenues. That's the legacy of your kind of "thinking". Taking our hard-earned treasure and setting it on fire in the desert for the benefit of someone not us.

[divadab]

A complete falsehood. Every working American can retire with a bit more security thanks to Social Security. It benefits ALL citizens who worked during their working careers and paid into it.

I can;t believe how much utter disinformation is believed by you wingers.

[divadab]

@different clue - yes. The amount of lies told about Social Security (It's bankrupt" The fund is just paper! It's an entitlement!) are widespread and propagated by people who want to eliminate any and all federal programs that benefit everyone in favor of programs that benefit a privileged few. And the Republicans are the worst tellers of these whoppers, unfortunately.

For the record, the Social Security fund is comprised entirely of Bonds issued by the US government. This is the textbook definition of a risk-free asset. Anyone who says otherwise is either an ignorant dupe or a malignant liar. If the USG were to renounce its obligations that would be the end of the financial system and the end of the USG.

[JMH]

Most likely the parade was organized by USAID funded local NGOs. It would actually make sense for her to be there in that regard.

[turcopolier]

JMH

Why would USAID fund such an event?

[vig]

To hear these stuck up creatures praised for their resolute service in "dangerous hardship posts" is funny.

Except in the Benghazi Embassy (or outpost?) attack?

[turcopolier]

vig

Three out of four were CIA contractors running the export of Libyan arms to Syria. The ambassador was there for a social engagement.

[vig]

CIA contractors running the export of Libyan arms to Syria

on the back of my mind surely, but too far from my tangible reality other then the (censured?) "red line vs the rat line".

[prawnik]

Re: the economy - I can take any wino off the street and make him look like a financial wizard, as long as he can continue to borrow and refinance.

Now watch the explosion of USG debt under Trump (and Obama). Note how fed rates remain near zero.

There's your economy.

[prawnik]

Because if Trump were to fire Adolf Eichmann, Eichmann would instantly be transmogrified from official Team D Folk Devil to
Resistance Hero.

Witness the apotheosis of John Bolton. Team D are thrilled to embrace the war criminal with open arms, as long as he gives them dirt on Trump.

As far as I am concerned, he was a criminal then, he is a criminal now.

[prawnik]

At risk of repeating myself - the booming economy under Trump and Obama is largely the result of ballooning deficit spending combined with a Fed willing to lend at near-zero interest.

[prawnik]

Our numerous stupid wars have done nothing to make us safer.

Quite the contrary.

[srw]

I was off on counting my ancestors going back to the Pilgrim. Not counting myself, there were 10, 6 female and 4 male. Very close to your 9 ancestors.

[JMH]

I don't think USAID would fund the event itself. I do think they fund NGOs that support LGBT issues under the banner of human rights, equality ect. Then they just join the cheering section when parade season comes along.

The why why is the conceit that our political battles at home need to replicated abroad.

[vig]

She should stop staining her hair asap, to the risk of ending as bald. ...

I deeply dislike this type of argument. Why does it matter?

Beyond possible danger for human health? Ok, I admittedly wondered about that too, concerning one specific case. But: could in-vitro tests on hair color tell us anything about long term danger to health? Some black dyes seemed not so healthy for minor forms of life, once upon a time. Put another way, could that danger have contributed to a significant degree longterm? Considering my specific case? Would be hard to prove. You feel it would be easy to construct a test design? Longterm? How many other factors to recognize?

What is on your mind otherwise? Something must have been in this context, other then the input.

A close friend of mine started to turn gray in his late thirties/early fourties, as his mother. My father started to turn gray in his early to mid 70s, slowly. Seems my brother and me follow that precident vs our sisters.

But yes, considering established beauty patterns, people seem to have a hard time to believe it. Especially the chattering ladies. No harm meant.

By the way. I wished I had been gray from my mid-fourties on when I was first confronted with the suspicion or argument, if you like. Would have saved troubles. Somehow you feel you have to explain. Why should anyone have to? No matter if artifically colored or not?

[vig]

social engagement.
yes true, triggers a highly vague memory trail. Now that you put it this way.

Will reflect on this statement in connection with the event and its evualutory aftermath.

[Factotum]

How does a discussion about reform of federal entitlements, in the interests of budget balancing, conflate immediately into a discussion about eliminating entitlement benefits?
Do all these straw dogs have their shots, because there is a lot of barking up the wrong trees.

[Keith Harbaugh]

Regarding Marie Yovanovitch, John Solomon on the day she appeared before the HPSCI suggested 15 questions that she should be asked:
"The 15 essential questions for Marie Yovanovitch"

By the way, Mr. Solomon has been doing some really excellent work, IMO, at his new website John Solomon Reports digging up facts about the U.S./Ukraine relation the MSM, not to mention the Dems, seem determined to ignore.
See especially:
"Debunking some of the Ukraine scandal myths about Biden and election interference", 2019-10-31

[vig]

my no doubt uninteressting impression was that the "offical" heigh horse of gender and humain rights started with the GWOT to go mainstream in the larger we vs them P.R. argument. Western Values vs the 'unfreed' tradition of the to-be-brought-up-to-Western-standards.

Thus, or put another way, it may have been part of the larger soft power angle of "national interest" to support at that point in time.

[Jane]

Re:2

That was a bunch of playacting by Reps. Nunes and Stefanik. The rules for the hearing were adopted two weeks ago and provided that the initial 45 minutes was restricted to two people for each party and the chair for Dems and the ranking member for the Republicans. Both Stefanik and Nunes knew this when they attempted to violate that and got gaveled down.

Bhttps://www.snopes.com/fact-check/schiff-refuse-gop-talk/

[Eric Newhill]

ISL,
Trump takes positions that are not popular; a lot more of them.

You're going to pay the $6k/month regardless of the system. How's paying $6k/month in taxes better than paying it to a private company? Actually, I know it is better to have the private company, but I know you will never believe me. Anyhow, re the $6k, that's what healthcare costs on average, unless you want to severely ration care (50% of Australian healthcare costs are paid by private insurance). There is no free magic sparkle pony and there's no Santa Claus to deliver it to you.