From reader JBH today:
Trump may well be Patton reincarnated as he was born ½ earth revolution after Patton nearly to the day. Enemies of America off balance and greatly confused by Trump’s classic Art of War style. Massive infrastructure rebuilding project coming. Trump will build that… along with the Wall.
I have seen this abbreviation “TDS” for “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. I’ll just say seems like plenty of people have just plain “DS”.
This is by way of alerting readers to the following: I will not censor any comments on reincarnation, George S. Patton, and sealed indictments. However, comments giving credence to Q-anon, racist jokes and misogynistic observations, and arguments that there were indeed “fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville protests of 2017 will be censored.
“Massive infrastructure rebuilding project coming.” – JBH. I did not even know he said this absurd statement. Sure Trump sat with “Chuck and Nancy” as he likes to demean the Senator and the Speaker and said $2 trillion over the next 10 years would be nice. But guess what? Trump has ZERO clue where to come up with the funding. Saying one wants to build something is meaningless without the commit to pay for the work.
Yea – we all know we desperately need to rebuild the NYC subways and go forward with the Gateway Project. But to date – Trump has stood in the way rather than lead.
Oh please, please, please don’t deny us the pleasure of a few belly laughs with those QAnon stories. I realize that you’re just trying to shield the unfortunate JBH from making a total fool of himself, but c’mon, can’t we at least have a little fun at his expense?
@ 2slugbaits
Our panel says that’s a 5-star comment.
You know I’m gonna make half an effort not to me insulting here, but you have to feel there is some personal background related to JBH we aren’t aware of or some “extenuating circumstances” related to JBH buying some of this stuff. Some of this even strains Alex Jones’ level “credibility” in the believability dept. I’ll say this, I do think JBH is sincere in his thoughts–however misguided they are—and some people aren’t sincere—which I consider insincerity to be the worser crime.
I think mostly when Menzie filters people it relates to extreme vulgarity or Menzie’s responsibilities to his University and students. In other words, my sense is Menzie would allow some more “freedom” if not concern for how that unfairly reflects on other parties. But you do get this sense (or I do) that Menzie has these once in a zillion moments where he filters comments to “save people from themselves”. That can get dangerous as it can be an excuse to filter things you don’t like. But I think Menzie is very judicious or rather very sparing in ever doing that–so I think Menzie has about perfect borderline sense on that. IT wouldn’t be too hard to guess for regular readers that I have been “filtered” here, but I very rarely get angry about it (and when I do, it’s probably my own over-sensitivity, a character flaw I can’t seem to get rid of). Menzie is MORE than fair about it, and usually bleeps out the worse parts. He could just delete the WHOLE comment if he was being a jerk about it, which he obviously isn’t. I’m pretty certain Menzie doesn’t like my thoughts related to gender, but I think he grimaces and lets it ride giving me a half-benefit of the doubt. That’s why all this crying about comments doesn’t fly from my view, cuz I think he’s shown pretty damned clearly he’s going to put the comment up disregarding of whether he agrees with it or not—that’s about 50% of the point of blogs.
I can give a good example of bloggers that don’t allow dialogue— “Kid Dynamite” is one. I used to visit his blog very regular because he had good content—and then he filtered two comments just on the basis it disagreed with his personal politics. and nothing in my comment went “over the line”. What pissed him off was I had made a very relevant point that he didn’t have much of a counter-argument for, so the answer for him was, delete the comment. The guy basically worships Steve Wynn–what else do you need to know?? I mean Menzie thinks I’m borderline on my thoughts on gender–where exactly do you have to be on that topic to slobber on your shirt over Steve Wynn like he’s some Greek god??
The mention of Patton got me to Googling. The Russians had about 500 divisions active at the end of the war. The US had about 60. Patton wanted to take on the Russians. Some general.
FDR was smart not to prolong WWII. So who does Trump put in charge? War monger and chicken hawk Josh Bolton. Go figure!
pgl,
I am more into Civil War but I have read enough that…. FDR died in Apr 1945. If you are referring to Hiroshima, that was Truman. FDR did pursue Manhattan Project because the Germans were studying it . If you took a physic course in college in the ;late 60’s you likely had a professor who did grad work on the project, I did.
Ike lecturing Patton. Patton wanted to roll over the Russian because Patton believed Anglo-Saxons were so morally superior to Russians that we needed to prolong the war. JBH may be right – Trump shares one feature with Patton. Racism!
OK – the link with respect to my comment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZZjQ3bbvE
“Bill Barr the Boogeyman — or so Democrats Would Have Us Think”.
LOL! Look Barr lied to Congress to help Trump cover-up his various crimes. His paying you to troll here does not change the facts.
What Trump said regarding Charlottesville is a matter of public record but it is not the media that is lying here. It is you, KellyAnne Conway, and Sarah Sanders.
A few thoughts on Trumpian admiration of Patton:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trump-general-patton-admiration-214545
Given Trump’s evident admiration for generals and his reliance on them in his Cabinet, however, it’s worth considering the rest of Patton’s record. His success in wartime has, over the years, whitewashed the rest of his character. His views on race and America’s role in the world were retrograde even in the 1940s—and so forcefully articulated that it’s hard to understand why contemporary Americans have such an easy time admiring him. His life isn’t just an example of winning—it’s an object lesson in how hard it is to transfer skills from a ruthless campaign to the complex tasks of real governance…But if Trump misunderstood Patton’s tactics, he had plenty in common with the general’s operating style, driven by promotion and loyalty and an open disdain for the press, even as he used it relentlessly to build his own brand. Patton and MacArthur “were the media whores of their time,” as Tufts University’s Daniel Drezner told Reuters, and that served a constructive purpose. Patton’s troops were proud to serve under the profane maverick and terrified of failing to achieve the goals he set for them. Patton reveled in ignoring the experts and bulldozing his way forward in the face of criticism. “Let the gentleman up north [Eisenhower and his staff] learn what we’re doing when they see it on their maps,” he proclaimed before launching the March 1945 offensive in the Eifel Forest. Twelfth Army Group commander Omar Bradley, who knew Patton well, described him as “colorful but impetuous, full of temper, bluster, inclined to treat the troops and subordinates as morons. He was primarily a showman. The show always seemed to come first.” Patton acted as though he didn’t care what people thought, but he “harbored a burning ambition for personal recognition,” wrote Eisenhower’s son John. He valued loyalty above all—“A loyal staff is more important than a brilliant one,” he wrote—and his inner advisers rarely contradicted him, which was an obvious disservice. Any sign of weakness sent Patton into a rage. Many of his associates, including Eisenhower, felt that “Old Blood and Guts” showed increasing signs of mental imbalance…Disturbingly, Patton had zero sympathy for the Holocaust victims living in wretched, overcrowded collection camps under his command. He was unable to imagine that people living in such misery were not there because of their own flaws. The displaced Jews were “locusts,” “lower than animals,” “lost to all decency.” They were “a subhuman species without any of the cultural or social refinements of our times,” Patton wrote in his diary. A United Nations aid worker tried to explain that they were traumatized, but “personally I doubt it. I have never looked at a group of people who seem to be more lacking in intelligence and spirit.” (Patton was no friend to Arabs, either; in a 1943 letter, he called them “the mixture of all the bad races on earth.”)
I never quite understood the fascination with Patton. He was a general born for the 17th century, but military science had largely passed him by when WW2 came along. It’s hard to imagine him having the mental discipline or talent needed to organize a massive logistical effort like D-Day. He was good at motivating the troops and fighting small tactical skirmishes, but I don’t think he had any strategic sense at all. In today’s army he would have made a fine lieutenant. People have this outdated idea of generals sitting around a table plotting out how to move this or that battalion here or there in the same way that they might imagine Napoleon or Robert E. Lee doing war planning. People even had that image with GEN Schwarzkopf pouring over maps and plotting how to trap Saddam’s army. That’s not how it works. In the real world computers run endless simulations of blue-on-red wargames that take into account zillions of factors. A simple battalion-on-battalion simulation takes a 2GHz machine approximately four hours to find an optimal solution to one scenario. A brigade-on-brigade simulation takes a 2GHz machine about 60 hours. And that’s just a 15 day combat pulse. And that just tells planners the combined combat arms equipment mix (called a Modified Table of Equipment) needed to accomplish the mission. It’s hard to see how Patton could have covered himself in personal (and vain) glory given the way we prosecute wars today. And we see the same thing with Trump. Trump is a seat-of-his-pants businessman, which probably explains why he goes bankrupt so often. His management style might work for small fry operations, but it’s not up to the job when it comes to running a large Executive Department.
Yes, PT, you are a Fine Person, and so is JBH. You two should be very proud f yourselves for this great achievement.
Trump is a demonstrable coward. Patton was not. Full stop.
Eeeeeehh!?!?!?!?! Menzie!!!!! I enjoy being demented. Party-pooper!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Y6YfDBmh8
Is the ‘massive’ infrastructure spending all government or not?
If so this would increase the already large structural deficit even further,
Good ole Donald. He wanted a bigger structural deficit than Obama, Pity about the business cycle
Exactly – how to pay for it was not even addressed in this little meeting. Of course we know Donald wants to privatize it so he can rip us off all over again!
It may be morally wrong to build a wall. On the other hand Rome collapse because of:
– change of ideaology: rise of Christianism
– fall-down of defence of border
Zi Zi: And here I thought it was over-reliance on bread-and-circuses, the end of the Republic, and outsourcing defense to “barbarians”.
It’s of little concern to me whether a wall is immoral. Rather, the wall is a tremendous waste of resources that clearly fails any benefit-cost test.
Not really a true criticism on my part here.
I rarely if ever read anything you write, that I don’t think you’re telling the truth. Not buying the 2nd to last sentence there Chief. I might buy it if you said that on this blog economic analysis takes precedence over moral considerations. I might buy THAT.
2Slugs,
I agree Patton was notoriously, at least in North Africa, (not well covered by his biographers) lax on my specialty logistics.
That speech in the movie is a compilation of Patton’s talks at training centers and rear areas. Patton talked to soldiers every chance he got.
He was larger than life in training and discipline. My uncle served in armor in North Africa and Italy. As a tank crew he was more favorable to Patton than Eisenhower, the tiny bit he talked about his experiences.
The army that went in to North Africa was going against the most disciplined and well led army to date. Yes, US logistics was the deciding factor, because there were not enough Pattons to get the train and organize right.
Patton was a bit more than a skirmisher……. He also used tactical air to good effect.
I have no idea where you learned your Roman history, but that’s not even middle school level stuff. And instead of worrying about how or why the western Empire fell, we should spend more time studying why the Roman Republic collapsed into a Principate and Empire. One of my favorite books on that aspect of ancient Rome is “Rome’s Revolution” by Richard Alston.
https://www.amazon.com/Romes-Revolution-Republic-Ancient-Civilization/dp/0199739765
A lot of uncomfortable parallels with today’s world.
Not sure how closely it covers the fall of Rome, but may I humbly (or not so humbly) suggest the following book:
https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Origins-Dictatorship-Democracy-Acemoglu/dp/0521671426/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=daron+acemoglu&qid=1556968135&s=books&sr=1-3
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”- Joseph Goebbels.
It seems, many Americans have been manipulated and duped by the liberal/socialist Democrat Party, who speak in one voice, and the “mainstream” media, who speak in the same voice and ban the other side of issues.
Don’t know why Republicans put up with the propaganda. They should boycott all of the leftist “mainstream” media, until they act like journalists, and persistently explain each day how they operate.
Republicans are too nice, while constantly getting pounded. Democrats certainly wouldn’t put up with it, if the shoe was on the other foot, because they’re fighters.
PeakTrader: The irony of someone who believes that Mr. Trump is a truthteller quoting Goebbels is too much.
Well there certainly is a striking physical resemblance: https://seteantigoshepta.blogspot.com/2016/12/trump-seria-reencarnacao-do-general.html
If Patton was a real estate developer, presidential candidate, and then President, he may have done it a lot like Trump
What are you saying? Patton had small hands and a small you know what too?!
Defending “morality” and “ideology” is the ultimate mission of a “state”. They may be defined completely differently across eras (mandate of native religion, mandate of heaven, mandate of freedom, mandate of own ethnicity), but when you fail on that “soft” front, the state fails.
When physical conditions change, the mandate will have to change. That’s when crisis appears.
Dictator, inflation, decaying border, economic chaos are all that entail. Well bread and circus, ménage a trois, I’m sure at least Moses would like some too.
Ideaology, either it conquers or be defeated, that’s how it is.
Two interesting articles:
The Powerful Group Shaping The Rise Of Hindu Nationalism In India
https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=706808616
The Language of the Third Reich (and the Soviet)
https://inference-review.com/article/the-language-of-the-third-reich
Menzie, why do you censor my posts?
Zi Zi: None of your posts have been censored. I have checked the trash file to confirm.
Zi Zi: Thanks much. Your second link in fact leads to an excellent site. Nobel physicist Glashow in a book review says: I have always regarded elegance, simplicity, and beauty as essential criteria for physical laws. Applied to an even wider range of fields, I’d long ago concluded this myself. Keynes’s General Theory is the very antithesis of elegance, simplicity, and beauty. Hence almost ipso facto, the GT cannot have laid down any universal laws. In fact, its single noteworthy contribution to the field of economics is the efficacy of fiscal stimulus during a quite limited portion of the business cycle, the trough. At its very core, however, the GT is dead wrong. None of the 24 civilizations since the Sumerians could possibly have risen to prominence without savings, the critical element of each and every of their ages of expansion. Savings is the one and only causal source of investment in new capital and new technology which are critical to productivity. Savings takes precedence. Macro students the world over are being mistaught. As undergraduates they are too youthful to understand. Those that then go on are already so brainwashed by abstract higher level macro to ever be able to get it about savings. There were two ages of expansion in the US empire that now dominates Western Civilization. The 100 years before the creation of the Federal Reserve, and the immediate postwar years. In both, the personal saving rate far exceeded that of today. The Keynesianized paradigm of the GT left the back door of fiscal stimulus wide open. The first rotten apple was brought to Washington by Walter Heller, and it has taken all this time to rot the entire barrel. We are now paying the price with a record level debt burden that is beyond question the main impediment to growth going forward.
As for elegance, simplicity, and beauty. Who does not want such a wife? Who standing back observing Nature does not see these attributes everywhere in all their glory? And who reading the comments of the far leftists on this site does not see the very antithesis? Shorn of all. Sheer nihilist. Lacking in any moral or higher order content whatsoever.
JBH,
More dumb hypocrisy from you.
So, latest report on US personal savings rate is that it is at 6.5 percent. This is about the same as it has been since 2013, if anything slightly below the average since then, which has basically been bouncing around in a narrow range. If Trump’s policies are so great, why has this all-important rate (according to you) not risen? And, as you rant about the importance of debt, hopefully you are aware that Trump’s policies have engendered a massive increase in the rate of growth in the national debt, which indeed does call for an increase in the savings rate to help offset that. But it is not happening. Evidence that Trump’s policies are very damaging to the long run health of the US economy, according to your own arguments.
Oh, and did you really not attend a grad school and just lied outright to all of us about that, thereby imitating your disgusting hero, Donald J. Trump?