October 27, 2020

Down to the Wire

Waferinos-

The election is one week away. The battle of the 'titans': a sociopathic buffoon vs. a lame goofball. Democracy in action. 8 swing states still up in the air. Wafers, of course, understand that the real choice is between rapid collapse of the US vs. a slightly slower one. Viva Zapata!

-mb

177 Comments:

Blogger Dan Daniel said...

No words:

https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-phoebe-bridgers-elizabeth-warren-and-more-do-the-time-warp-in-tenacious-ds-new-video/

2:56 PM  
Anonymous Gutierrez said...

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/25/john-gray-what-can-we-learn-from-cats-dont-live-in-an-imagined-future

John Gray: ‘What can we learn from cats? Don’t live in an imagined future’

The philosopher’s new book attacks the idea that any ideology has the answers to life’s questions – but advice from cats might be his exception…

2:59 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

Speaking of elections, the Slack-Jawed Yahoo Party was re-elected for its fourth consecutive term in my province (the home of North American socialism) yesterday. I can't say I'm pleased with the results.

What's up with the accusations of communism (not that there's anything wrong with that) being thrown around here? I've noticed similar outbreaks of red-baiting elsewhere on the internets recently. Is some influential right-wing cornball site spewing this stuff these days? The accusers invariably demonstrate their having no clue what "communism" means, by the way.

3:00 PM  
Anonymous D-Pressed said...

Election related?

https://twitter.com/AlexanderAbdo/status/1319761452832534531

(Cross post from news.ycombinator.com)

3:24 PM  
Blogger Himanshu said...

Dear Dr. Berman:

Good article by Slavoj Zizek: Biden’s just Trump with a human face, and the two of them share the same enemy.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/504705-slavoj-zizek-biden-trump/

Excerpts: "The basic antagonism is the one between the establishment and the Left, and the rightist violent “extremism” is a panicky reaction triggered when the center is threatened. This became clear in the last presidential debate when Trump accused Biden of backing “Medicare for all,” saying “Biden agreed with Sanders”; Biden replied: “I beat Bernie Sanders.” The message of this reply was clear: Biden is Trump with a human face, in spite of their opposition they share the same enemy. This is liberal opportunism at its worst: renounce the Left “extremists” out of the fear of not scaring the center."

Himanshu

4:59 PM  
Blogger took_the_red_pill said...

One of the more damning articles I've read about the Trump regime:

Time to dump Trump

To wit:

"Trump's blinding dumbness in the areas of [civics/Presidency]...infected him with an ugly, bastardized view of his job...[it] contributes to his most self-defeating misapprehension: that he's only the president of the red states. Everyone else is the enemy...There have to be consequences for his indifference to...225,000 casualties of COVID-19...[Trump failed] to do [what] so many [others] managed to achieve. Had Trump listened to the experts...thousands of Americans would still be alive..."

Naturally, after "j'accuse!" comes the expected "hey, we can fix this!":

"The 2020 election is about...a second Reconstruction...[to guarantee] this will never happen again...a Trump Crimes Commission to hold the perpetrators accountable."

Oh, well, at least he diagnosed half the problem. The other is the 33%+ of the country following him over a cliff.

5:06 PM  
Blogger took_the_red_pill said...

Oops, I made a little pronoun error in my last post. The last sentence should read:

"The other is the 33%+ of the country following Trump over a cliff."

5:47 PM  
Blogger Nadine Bupkis said...

Biden recently promised he would *not* ban fracking or institute any meaningful environmental reforms. So much for American liberalism!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXlb7WEurz8

Also, it seems possible a Biden win will deal just as much damage as a Trump win. Biden's worsening dementia might cause him to inflict a great deal of damage. The DNC can prevent this by forcing him to step down, but then Kamala Harris, who has a history of supporting the death penalty and trying to imprison parents of truant children. She also has a history of supporting mass incarceration to increase prison labor, and of making it far too difficult to get parole for the same purpose. There's no reason to think she'll change course if she becomes president.

https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-climate-danger-of-kamala-harris-prison-labor-legac-1844712734

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-24/kamala-harris-california-crime

5:51 PM  
Blogger Arthur V. said...

Wafers, it's been awhile since I've mentioned my favorite crackpot site Lifesite, but I had to share this.

lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-priest-threatens-mother-with-arrest-if-she-enters-church-without-a-mask

The lady in question rambles about how masks are a tool of social control and Marxist. And please read the comments. Did you know masks are the mark of Satan? I know enough about history to understand that decline and fall is never pretty, but to see this right in front of one's face is truly disgusting. And full disclosure: this event happened in Northbrook, Illinois; I live right next door in Chicago. It's possible that I pass some of these Yahoos everyday in the street. And Progs really think we can have dialogue with these people?!



6:46 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

Dr. Berman,
You forgot to mention something. Regardless whether if Don the Con or Biden wins the election, the Karens aren’t going away. Neither is the “friendly community ethos” that exists between people here in the United States. Ha!Ha!Ha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iubhz3dlHXE

7:36 PM  
Blogger alex carter said...

Loyalty oaths and purges in our future whoops, no, now: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/donald-trump-civil-servants-schedule-f

8:49 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

PREDICTION - Trump is going to somehow hold onto power and remain President...Through a contested election that gets decided in his favor by the Supreme Court.

11:09 PM  
Blogger NeilW said...

I think about your Kissinger comment in Geopolitics and Empire interview: ''The guy's a dork'' - applies equally, perhaps especially to Biden

12:04 AM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

I wouldn't expect any sane person to sit through this whole video, but it should probably be archived for future explorers crawling through the ruins of America in 200 years.

https://youtu.be/lVRFANIA2Wc

A shining city on a hill?

Or...

A double-wide trailer park?

You be the judge.

Onward and downwards my fellow WAFers. I can't overstate how much this blog has helped keep me sane this year. Though I may never meet any of you in person, we'll always share a connection, nonetheless. :)

12:54 AM  
Anonymous Buddy Satva said...

Clearly, the Great Wall on Mexico's northern border is to make it nigh impossible for Americans to flee South the Failed States of America. Mad Max is now the only face that can be allowed for postage stamps --that is, as soon as Trumpkopf's Postmaster Generalissimo decides to cease dismantling it. Que mierda!

2:38 AM  
Anonymous Flabster said...

I am not old, and have noticed that among my age group and younger economic collapse had started to arrive pre-pandemic:

https://www.blackengineer.com/news/unemployment-higher-among-younger-americans-as-many-pivot-to-find-jobs-in-new-industries/

https://mobile.twitter.com/WorkLifeVanier/status/1321150167291224069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Since college most of us have experienced 3 good sized recessions, while those with established careers been able to hang on to their jobs, most of us have had to change careers.

As I work with youths, I can tell you they are far, far less in denial than their parents regarding the state of America. Yes, many of the common about attention issues are true. I would argue they are true due to the young seeing preparations for the future are pointless as they will be forced into crummier jobs down the economic ladder rather than up. Stability, marriage, long term saving are things they see (correctly) as beyond their economic prospects.

From my day to day experience, I would say that the 17-20 age group is experiencing literally complete economic collapse already, one day r two steps ahead of those 25-40. There are few opportunities beyond low level employment, while living with their parents.

10:16 AM  
Anonymous Riffe said...

A good article (until the last sentence) on capitalism as a suicidal system that can be economically viable only by externalizing its hidden costs onto consumers and the environment. But like so many progs, he recoils from the obvious conclusions of his article and calls on ..... (who I'm not sure) to save us from ourselves.

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/27/taking-money-with-one-hand-fooling-us-with-the-other/

11:18 AM  
Anonymous Orca said...

Wafers,
I've found this presentation by the psychohistorian Marc-André Cotton on what made Trump be the Trump we know, the presentation is in french and I tried to find an english transcript or subtitles but I couldn't find any. I don't know if any of you speaks the language, but for whomever speaks french here it is:

https://youtu.be/eYhg8wID6L4

And here's the website of Marc-André Cotton in english if you want to know more about him:

http://www.regardconscient.net/edefault.htm

11:24 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Riffe-

Tulsi, I'm thinking.

Louis-

To meet us in person, fly into NYC for the 7th Annual NY Wafer Summit Meeting, to be held on May 15. Of course, given the fluctuations of covid, the event may not happen, but let's hope. Will provide more details in 3-4 mos.

Joe-

O, I've mentioned it several times, esp. with respect to the bubbas--and bubbism. Once again, Trumpi is merely a symptom of a national condition.

Wafers-

Regarding those who write or say that America can be saved at the 11th hour, I have not been able to come up with a single reason as to why these folks should not be beaten to within an inch of their lives, and then thrown on a dung heap. If any of you can provide one, I'm all ears.

mb

12:17 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

Another usa-ian doing what usa-ians do--pee on people when they're sleeping during a flight.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8888295/Lead-pastor-Love-Wins-Ministries-North-Carolina-identified-man-peed-woman-flight.html

4:51 PM  
Anonymous D-Pressed said...

> a single reason as to why these folks should not be beaten to within an inch of their
> lives, and then thrown on a dung heap. If any of you can provide one, I'm all ears.

Because they might convince *someone* to try. Because the steps that that someone might
take to try to save the USA, even if in vain, might reduce the damage caused to the planet
on the USA's way down.

I'm thinking of steps like stopping the persecution of Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden
and (my hobbyhorse) Julian Assange...

5:39 PM  
Anonymous Jane said...

The other choices are between Pepsi & Coke, CNN or Fox, smoking or nonsmoking. Down we go!

6:17 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

Movie script in this? Perhaps a zany sitcom?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/white-supremacist-group-training-violence-004347548.html

6:19 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

All the crazy shit trumpo says...but I bet he would pass a lie detector test with flying colors.

movie recommendations- Trial of the Chicago Seven on Netflix Sacha Baron Cohen does a nice take on Abby Hoffman, also Borat 2 if you can tolerate Amazon or want to see Giuliani make a pedophile of himself.

https://www.google.com/search?q=trial+of+chicago+seven+netflix&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS910US910&oq=trial+of+chicago+seven&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.12121j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

7:09 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

Reading about global warming for decades, there was one thing that always seemed to leave writers and scientists a bit speechless, a bit of, 'well, nothing more to say.' The release of methane frozen in the Arctic. The ultimate positive feedback loop, and it has started...

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/27/sleeping-giant-arctic-methane-deposits-starting-to-release-scientists-find

8:29 PM  
Anonymous Savantesimal said...

The Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Black Mirror, or whatever, just cannot compete with reality anymore:
White House science office says Trump ended COVID-19 pandemic as US hits record cases
Quote:
The White House science office listed "ending the COVID-19 pandemic" as the top accomplishment of President Trump's first term, even as the U.S. has set records for new daily infections and numerous hospitals across the country are stretched to their breaking points.

According to a press release intended to highlight the administration's science accomplishments, the Trump administration said it "has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, industry, and government to understand, treat, and defeat the disease."

9:40 PM  
Anonymous The jackass said...

Do not worry. Kim K. Has a plan to save the country. You just have to stare into her butthole long enough to see it.

11:24 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

Sometimes the term "tone deaf" can be both metaphorical and literal:

"...artists have been more befuddled than angry about the playing of songs whose themes are the exact opposite of the messages Trump is sending.

Fogerty said he was baffled by Trump's use of Fortunate Son, his 1969 hit with Creedence Clearwater Revival, whose condemnation of privileged children of rich men who did not serve in Vietnam sounds like a tailor-made slam of Trump
."

Artists denounce use of their songs by Trump campaign
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/musicians-vs-trump-1.5779066

How about some suggestions for the Trump soundtrack? I'm torn between Jimmy Durante's "Every State in the 48 is Great" and Frank Zappa's "I'm the Slime."

1:51 AM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

I just figured I'd leave this here for you cinephile WAFers. :)

"The Shining" is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying films of all time.

But why? Taken at face value, it's slow, sometimes uneventful, and occasionally unintentionally funny thanks to Nicholson's ham-fisted performance.

Well, its terror lies in the sub-surface layer of the film. The themes of Native American genocide are in almost every frame and spoken in a visual language. The film's power is in the way it subconsciously lets the viewer know that America's very foundation was fertilized in Native blood. A sin we'll never be absolved for.

Fantastic analysis:

https://youtu.be/1InCfpuD4ow

2:34 AM  
Anonymous willy robinson said...

Form Dr B

"Regarding those who write or say that America can be saved at the 11th hour, I have not been able to come up with a single reason as to why these folks should not be beaten to within an inch of their lives, and then thrown on a dung heap. If any of you can provide one, I'm all ears."

I believe there are distinctions to be made. If they believe:

(a) that the US can be saved

Then maybe - just maybe - their naive energy is useful and might lead them to take action in a creditable way at some point, but they would seriously need to check the graph.

(b) that the US can be saved by the Democtats

OK, pee on their shoes then take 'em out back and do the rest...

4:18 AM  
Anonymous Waesfjord said...

Dear Dr Berman, Wafers,

I write with shame today. There was a murder-suicide in my little country (Ireland) in which three people died. This will remain headline news for days, even weeks as such a thing is so rare. I was excited that finally we might have a mass shooting. However, 4 or more people shot is the current definition of a mass shooting. Just one off. So close! Curious I checked the records for mass shootings in Ireland. There was a couple in the 90s in Norther Ireland during the Troubles. The last one in the Republic was during the Irish Civil War, 1922. When are we going to get our shit together like Americans and carry out a mass shooting everyday?

7:00 AM  
Anonymous Tito said...

American unreality

In breaking the link between politics and objective truth, the United States seeks to fashion a new world – but it is one built on shifting sands.

By John Gray

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2020/10/american-unreality

10:03 AM  
Blogger Xair said...

Wafers,


https://markcrispinmiller.com/2020/10/a-wonderful-story-from-the-real-life-of-franz-kafka/

A friend sent me this link today, I thought it a wonderful microcosm of what humanity should be. I find it very Wafer.

3:11 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Urination, violence, Kim's anus: America has it all!

5:00 PM  
Blogger anderszornpalette said...

Since Fukuyama has been discussed on this blog before, I think some of the WAFers here might be interested in this recent interview by UnHerd. The interviewer definitely challenges some of his positions, so it makes for an interesting discussion.

https://youtu.be/2WUm9-qEHXg

Hope everyone is doing well and stocking up on popcorn. Gonna be quite the spectacle in a few short days.

5:02 PM  
Anonymous Birney Zouave said...

Dr. B:

People in Idaho have had enough of C-virus restrictions-

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/27/idaho-republicans-including-lt-gov-mcgeachin-decry/

Here's the video referred to in the news article-

https://youtu.be/YqjcVV0YCUc

5:59 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFGf8iYL_HM

Could this be tomorrow's American dream? One stays in
school until age 30, works for 20 years, then gets purged
because the boss can always find someone younger to work
for less money. The pension will be greatly reduced and
the median age for the homeless will increase.

7:05 PM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

Remember, corporate-worshipping, braindead USA-ers, "Sleep is for suckers."

It's all about getting ahead...and here's another US hustler/huckster who will help you do it. Also hustles t-shirts etc....for additional money getting.

As Dr. Berman said, it doesn't matter what color the person is, they all gleefully/voluntarily 'want' what america is offering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGI2HwbwwY

https://www.davidneversleeps.com/

https://sleepis4suckers.com/


9:27 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Trump has signaled he won't accept an election loss. His voters agree.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-has-signaled-he-won-t-accept-election-loss-many-n1245304

9:43 PM  
Blogger WasLurkinNowLivin said...

Dear GSWH and Wafers,

MB you wrote 'I'm not a fan of capitalism or communism as both have been unmitigated disasters'. While I have no disagreement about the capitalism part of your statement, I am curious as to why you think communism deserves such harsh criticism... I've never lived in a communist country, and from an early age I was taught as most westerners are that it was evil incarnate and that people had to *gasp* share vcr's rather than have their own(lol). But recently I've begun to take a more open minded look at just about everything, communism included... Take the following article for example

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/24/75-of-russians-say-soviet-era-was-greatest-time-in-countrys-history-poll-a69735

And is it not true that the Russian revolution turned a feudal backwater into an industrial super power? Defeated the nazis in ww2? Put the first man in space? And provided for a reasonably decent human existence?

Cheers.

12:17 AM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

Wal-Mart removes ammunition from stores in preparation for 'civil unrest'.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/walmart-pulls-guns-ammo-off-sales-floors-because-of-civil-unrest.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

There isn't enough popcorn in the world available for what's coming next week.

If Gore Vidal found stupidity exciting, he would undoubtedly overdose in ecstasy after the next election happens.

12:43 AM  
Blogger vsoguy said...

Dr. Berman, WAFers, and Kim Kard-ass-hian,

Jim Kunstler uploaded a new podcast with Doug Casey discussing the current state of affairs:

https://kunstler.com/podcast/kunstlercast-336-chatting-with-doug-casey-about-the-end-of-civilization-and-other-modern-problems/

As for the election, as John Zerzan says, "The election is being portrayed as a choice between life and death, but really, it's a choice between death and death"

John has a radio broadcast with topics that some Wafers might find interesting:

https://www.johnzerzan.net/radio/

6:57 AM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

The exceptionalism of the US. Elections and democracy...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/29/the-us-electoral-system-is-a-shambles-they-could-learn-a-lot-from-australia

"Astonishingly, the US is still settling rules for an election due within days. And a national election is being conducted with a patchwork of state laws and regulations. Further, elected state officials – Republican or Democrat office holders – are making decisions about who goes on the roll, how many voting machines go where and how long postal votes will be counted.

"And all subject to appeal to an acutely partisan court.

"This is American exceptionalism. It confirms the proposition that the US is simply not a democracy, not in the sense western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are democracies."

7:01 AM  
Blogger NeilW said...

Another mention, Belman:

''It may well be that Professor Morris Berman is correct: perhaps we are entering into the dark ages that signify the final phase of the American Empire. “It seems to me,” writes Berman, “that the people do get the government they deserve, and even beyond that, the government who they are, so to speak. In that regard, we might consider, as an extreme version of this… that Hitler was as much an expression of the German people at that point in time as he was a departure from them.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55791.htm

7:04 AM  
Anonymous Malleus Maleficarum said...

Ok, so it's true:
https://covid19.govt.nz/health-and-wellbeing/covid-19/if-you-test-positive-for-covid-19/
You will usually be asked to move into a quarantine facility as quickly as possible.

In New Zealand they forcibly take you to a "quarantine facility" if you have covid-19. I thought it was the usual Fox News BS but there it is, in the own NZ government web page. Funny how I keep reading in The Guardian over and over again how absolutely amazing and wonderful Jacinda Ardern is, but I never read about this. You would think this is worth some discussion... Anybody who knows more can comment?

9:06 AM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

The music trump chooses for his rallies is odd but I went to one of them in 2016, while we waited for his arrival they played Elton John’s Funeral for a Friend. It’s a long song and I thought a strange choice until he won the election. Not too sure whose funeral though - the dems or the USA?

11:21 AM  
Anonymous Dog Water said...

Pic of the archetypal Trump supporter:

https://www.godlikeproductions.com/sm/7273ad63.jpg

11:29 AM  
Anonymous Lili Burr said...

data-led argument by Richard Hanania : Americans hate each other. But we aren’t headed for civil war. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/civil-war-united-states-unlikely-violence/2020/10/29/3a143936-0f0f-11eb-8074-0e943a91bf08_story.html

12:04 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Lili-

They also hate themselves, which is no small factor in our coming collapse.

Neil-

Thanks for the ref. It always amazes me, when someone quotes me.

Dan D-

Buffoonocracy, I like to call it.

WasLurkin-

You might wanna check out the work of Orlando Figes. Also Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon." Stalin murdered millions, amigo--for nothing. As one woman who escaped once told me, "You could never sleep soundly; they could come 4u at any moment."

mb

12:20 PM  
Anonymous Seth B said...

Gutierrez--

Great essay from John Gray. This stood out;

“Wokery is the successor ideology of neo-conservatism, a singularly American world-view. That may be why it has become a powerful force only in countries (such as Britain) heavily exposed to American culture wars”

Hard to overemphasize American solipsism on this...

12:23 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

An American solution to Covid-19: wearable pods. When MB describes Americans as dumber than rocks, he's not blowin' smoke.

Also, here's some good news. 2020 produced a record amount of gun sales (17 million):

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/29/coronavirus-pandemic-americans-gun-sales

Miles

4:33 PM  
Anonymous Riffe said...

PS to WasL - in addition to what MB wrote, there has never really been a pure Communist country (based on the philosophies of Marx), run by collectives of ordinary people, no more than a democratic nation in which the people directly make the decisions. The workers in Stalin's industrial boom were fed by starving the Ukrainians, I believe it was (there is a recent movie on this but I can't remember the title).

5:19 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/09/15/us-image-plummets-internationally-as-most-say-country-has-handled-coronavirus-badly/

It seems that you have many readers outside of the US.
What will the numbers be should Trump win?

6:05 PM  
Anonymous James Allen said...

“I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me
Please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents on the tree...”

Actress Lori Laughlin reported to the Federal Correctional Facility in Dublin, California this morning to begin serving a two-month sentence. She and her husband Massimo Giannulli had been caught up in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal that involved dozens of parents who had paid bribes to fixers, test-takers, and college officials to get their spawn into university.

In Lauglin’s case, she and her husband had paid $500,000 to get her daughters into the University of Southern California as candidates for the rowing team, even outfitting the girls with scull, oars, and outfits for their application photos. Neither had ever rowed a lick.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lori-loughlin-begins-2-month-prison-sentence-college-admissions-scandal-n1245434

9:15 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/biden-2020-trump-election/616912/?utm_source=msn

10:06 PM  
Anonymous Yvette Stout said...

If you need something view-worthy to distract from current politics....

'The Queen's Gambit' (a netflix 7-part series) is a beautiful homage to Chess, young geniuses, & 1960s aesthetics.

11:31 AM  
Anonymous Frankistan said...

Dr B,

Interesting!
The article provided by Lili claims:"Americans hate each other."
You claim, "They also hate themselves." The recurring word is hate. If I dont know how to love myself or if I hate myself, naturally I will extend my state of mind to others. The question is why the hate? Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump, became very wealthy only because the US government gave him lots of free money from FHA loans and grants. Yet Fred Trump hated paying one penny in taxes. What is the source of this hate??

12:26 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

WasLurkin-

More on USSR, for you to read up on: Moscow trials, gulags, Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn. Telling an anti-government joke cd wind you up in Siberia for 10 yrs. Decent consumer goods only for apparatchiki in Politburo. Here's one that circulated sotto voce in the 80s: A man walks into a butcher shop whose shelves are empty. "Don't you have any meat?" he asks the butcher. "Yr confused," the butcher tells him. "This is the store that has no fish. The store that has no meat is across the street."

The US killed millions of people in foreign countries (Guatemala, Iran...) via its imperial program, but unlike the Third Reich or the USSR, it never killed a large chunk of its own population. For what it's worth.

More on the John Gray article-

The US is engaged in creating an alternative reality, and has been at least since Bush Jr. Gray compares this to Nicholas II's regime, or the 3rd Reich, and says that creating an alternative reality that has no basis in actual reality is a good way to collapse. So Trumpi says (e.g.) that covid is not very significant, while the death toll keeps mounting.

Yvette-

One of my favorite openings. But I cdn't find it on the Netflix website.

Jas-

If there were ever a candidate for beatings and urine, it's Lori Loughlin. The American elite is actually trash. She gets 2 mos., when she shd have gotten 20 yrs.

mb

1:31 PM  
Blogger Muzette said...

6993 days ago I was weeping and totally distressed. Another Saturday before another Tuesday and I could find no way to prevent the coming conflagration from happening. That Saturday, September 8, 2001, believing that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York were going to be taken down by jet airplanes and that the US government was either criminally negligent, or complicit in allowing this to happen, I tried to figure out how I could stop it. Knowing that the events would be used to consolidate power and take the country to a costly, bloody, useless war for profit in Iraq (known since March of 1986) I found myself feeling totally impotent as no one wanted to listen or hear anything negative about our glorious USA. And history speaks for itself. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was probably one of the only people in the US not in shock by the events of the day. I had several years of knowing to prepare for those events. I have had decades of knowing to prepare for next Tuesday's election. The chaos and violence coming. And now I am just angry. Angry that Americans really are this stupid. And trying to give up any sense of compassion or empathy for them. Trying to accept that they are getting what they deserve and that this might be the best thing for the rest of the world. That the USA should collapse. I moved to another country on December 31, 2018. I had purchased my new home a year earlier and then discovered Morris Berman. Berman has validated all the arguments I have tried to make with friends and strangers in the USA over the past 40 years, since I was 16 years old. Now I do not feel like the crazy one. They are the crazy ones. And I am done with them.

1:57 PM  
Anonymous Ace H said...

Re: Netflix show The Queen's Gambit

Ths is the link to it
https://www.netflix.com/title/80234304

2:45 PM  
Anonymous Harris said...

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/oct/15/dangerous-rise-of-military-ai-drone-swarm-autonomous-weapons

‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI

Autonomous machines capable of deadly force are increasingly prevalent in modern warfare,
despite numerous ethical concerns. Is there anything we can do to halt the advance of the
killer robots?

2:55 PM  
Anonymous Chopped liver with onions said...

Dr. Berman,

What do you think about Dr. Grover Furr and his research into Soviet history?

3:10 PM  
Anonymous Nadine Bupkis said...

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

American COVID cases are skyrocketing. There were over 100,000 new cases just yesterday. Although the death rate is decreasing due to improved treatment, that will change once hospitals are pushed to their limit.

It seems COVID might destroy America for good. Despite nearly 240,000 deaths, half the American populace thinks it's a hoax. And they'll continue to think it's a hoax even if millions die. Meanwhile, many countries are refusing to allow Americans entry due to their bungling of the pandemic.

Americans hate reality these days. The more a narrative diverges from reality, the more they like it. Trump's narrative is about as far from reality as you can get. Biden's narrative has at least some connection to reality. This is why I predict Trump will win handily in 2020.

3:32 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

John Gray's comments about US solipsism stuck out for me as well. I see it fairly often.

I've even noticed it *gasp* here, where someone talks about the end of the planet, when they really mean the end of the USA.

5:03 PM  
Anonymous Michael King said...

Writing from Vancouver. As Dr. Berman's post was about the coming US election, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Hunter Biden laptop affair and the ensuing battle within the journalistic community. I'm a big fan of Naked Capitalism and this is the best piece I've ever read by Yves Smith. Yes, Greenwald did appear on Fox but no other outlet will touch him. I encourage fellow Wafers to also read the Greenwald and Taibbi items. Abrazos and best wishes to all, especially our host.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/10/glenn-greenwald-resigns-from-the-intercept-over-censorship-of-article-on-hunter-and-joe-biden.html

5:38 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

WAXworks? It is fitting that we light a candle to insure
that he goes out when the dumpster us picked up.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/berlins-madame-tussauds-removes-trump-171939808.html

5:56 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

Go endless war US empire! Blast from 1988 past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRPZQ3UEN_Q

6:09 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

I forgot the link for my previous post about wearable pods: https://utwpods.com/collections/wearable-pods

Happy Halloween, kidz.

Miles

7:00 PM  
Blogger alex carter said...

California's too expensive, they say. Move to flyover country, or a nice place like Vermont, they say. But this: https://vtdigger.org/2020/10/29/militia-training-site-terrifies-neighbors-in-west-pawlet/amp/

7:27 PM  
Anonymous Pastrami and Coleslaw said...

MB: Try https://www.netflix.com/title/80234304. It may not be available in MX yet, I dunno the netflix distribution policies or whatever.

Some help for WAFers, here's a website I've been following, it can be adjusted to anyplace in the US of Amerikkka: https://ebird.org/alert/summary?sid=SN35607&sortBy=obsDt&o=desc

8:50 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Of Course the Texas Bubba’s did...This is what Bubba’s DO...


https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/31/politics/biden-bus-2020-campaign-texas-trump-supporters/index.html



Not a huge fan of Marianne Williamson, but I think she’s right on here...


https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/523563-marianne-williamson-discusses-americas-soulless-ethos

11:55 PM  
Anonymous spinoza said...

Capitalism is kind of a Hegelian dialectic to communism leading to bureaucracy and cronyism without rule of law but the statutes and codes Admiralty Law we have here. Regardless what the oligarchs want is corruption and bureaucracy which the US and West has had - complete with a state apparatus media that seems to think BLM riots are "peaceful" - statutes, looting, violence, political correctness and all.

China capitalist like Russia hardly. Ask the political prisoners, or disposable labor, or tow the party line surveillance system victims, which is increasingly being styled into what's left of Europe and North America. Communism is definitely on the rise. Neo-con, Neo-liberal, Ayn Rand, Von Mises, "free trade" - look at the distribution of wealth. As maybe Solzhenitzen thought, when people are all equal no one is free. In the West with all the immigration, outsourcing, social engineering, doxing the "politically incorrect", crisis after crisis as a neo-red "war on" terror, increasing destitution, empowered private international banking cartel, labels seem to describe one system of dialectics - sanctions on one side tariffs the other, always squeezed, taxed and harvested until no longer needed, etc. Gov as a virus is not new.

1:03 AM  
Blogger took_the_red_pill said...

I think Tom Nichols (political scientist) has been mentioned here before; The Death of Expertise made waves in 2017. I haven't read it, but the book is on my lengthy reading list. Normally, I wouldn't be interested in Nichols; he's basically a neocon, a stereotype of the late-Boomer political class (b. 1960) right down to multiple sinecures at think tanks. However, he was one of the first "Never Trump" conservatives. He wrote a blistering piece for The Atlantic about the election: At Least Never Trumpers Stood and Fought

An earlier piece (October 2018): Why I’m Leaving the Republican Party

Both articles are notable for themes familiar to readers of Berman, Chalmers Johnson, etc. Nichols makes his points obliquely, suggesting he isn't fully aware of the implications. He mentions Newt Gingrich, enormous military budgets 30 years after the Cold War, and the "malaise" of the 1970s, but has great difficulty realizing that these events are of a piece with where we are today. There isn't space for quotation; however, the articles are succinct and worth reading. What surprises me is that someone as educated (PhD) as Nichols can't see that Trump is not an aberration. To Nichols' credit, he warns that someone even worse may come (Tom Cotton).

2:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wafers:

Communism wasn't so bad, forced quarantine either.

O&D

7:48 AM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...


Dr. Berman & Wafers,
Our Karens are as wacky and funny as ever. let’s look at a few.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkCyXQQ69lE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seoj7SfqPag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGzz4ZrTecM&t=93s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3rn--kdugA

8:14 AM  
Anonymous AmericanDream said...

Came across your blog recently. Why so much negativity surrounding America. You really don't think its the greatest country currently !! Some parts may not be that great but as an immigrant in New York, I feel like NYC is the greatest place on Earth. You can achieve great success irrespective of your background and the infrastructure and technology in this country is one of the best. Plus what NYC offers in terms of culture, no place can. Why so much hate then ? Not everyone can be successful and that's OK as long as society progresses plus no country is perfect. I guess most people commenting on this blog have not visited other Nations and also only complain and don't actually leave the country cause they know its the best.

9:30 AM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

For those of us still inside the collapsing s***hole of country, the next three days will be very anxious, followed by even more anxiety and uncertainty as we finally learn what Bill Barr and Baby Don have planned for turning the vote counting into a tumultuous wrestling match. Wish us luck!

And as most of you already know who are outside (and inside), whatever circus happens, the inevitable will keep rolling on. An interesting article from someone who moved to Portland, Oregon from the UK, expecting a blissful liberal home and finding a racist disaster with storm troopers in the street and huge fires on the edge of town.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/31/we-left-the-uk-for-portland-expecting-a-liberal-dream-that-wasnt-the-reality

For people who get to watch the upcoming battles, remember how small such media events really are. I was in San Francisco for the 1989 quake and for fifteen minutes the electric company made the mistake of giving my block power. We had a chance to watch the national news feed which showed all of "The Bay Area" collapsed and burning. Maybe 8 blocks among thousands, but keep cutting and using new angles and it seems immense. When the power went back off, we went to the corner store to get some beer and batteries and go stand in the park and watch three or four small smoke columns in the distance.

9:33 AM  
Anonymous Birney Zouave said...

Dr. B-

"A win for Joe Biden would only scratch the surface of America’s afflictions"-

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/01/a-win-for-joe-biden-would-only-scratch-the-surface-of-america-afflictions-donald-trum

Scroll down in the article to read the comments.

9:36 AM  
Anonymous Haley said...

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1541788516/


A tiny American town's plans for radical self-government overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears.
Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road.
When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town's thick wilderness.
The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton's neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city in an effort to get off the grid. The bears smelled food and opportunity.
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is the ultimate story of a quintessential American experiment -- to live free or die, perhaps from a bear.

Looking fwd to this!
https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project

9:53 AM  
Anonymous Russ said...

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/totally-under-control-documentary-stream-free-1234819050/

New documentary "Totally Under Control" highly recommend.

10:51 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

AmericanDream-

Knock yrself out, amigo! All of us Wafers are pulling for you!

dg-

Tell it to the Kulaks, the gulags, the millions murdered by Stalin.

Spinoza-

OMG, the commies are coming! Whatever shall we do?

Chopped-

Never heard of him, but scanning his works on Amazon, he sounds like someone trying to set fire to water.

Muzette-

Hard to believe you knew abt 9/11 in advance, but then yrs ago, I had a student who was having prescient dreams. One of the stories in "Heart of the Matter" deals with this. ("The Garden of Earthly Delights")

mb

2:28 PM  
Anonymous Nadine Bupkis said...

AmericanDream,

I've been to Canada, Antigua, Jamaica, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. All have kinder people than America does. I don't know where you're from, but few countries *don't* have nicer people than America does. That said, there are a handful. China, India and North Korea make America look attractive by comparison.

NYC is a land of opportunity - for con artists. My former friend works in Manhattan as a "stock broker". He phones people with dementia and sells them "stocks" that crash within days. His victims often lose their life savings, and some become homeless. Worst of all, he's breaking no laws; NYC's legal system is carefully designed to allow this behavior.

If money's what you want and morals don't matter to you, NYC's great. If not, it's one big scam. I lived there...I would know.

3:19 PM  
Anonymous Commy said...

I'm a communist, and commies are good people

5:55 PM  
Blogger Ziggy Zag said...

If you want to have a net worth of $300 million, go to
00:01:00 of this short video. In this we see just how
gullible, ignorant, and stupid are his faithful believers.
We also see that for a modest fee this God guy protects
them from the dreaded disease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf4eK34qWzo

6:16 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

When I look at the situation surrounding the election, Trumpo might very well do a number of things:

Trumpo's actual goal is to avoid the electoral judgement of the American people. He will have a golden opportunity to *create* chaos and *declare* a state of emergency when violence (in any form) hits the streets. Once emergency is declared he will then use his broad Constitutionally ordained power as president to federalize the National Guard into action in every major urban city and declare martial law. In effect, the entire architecture of American democracy will collapse right before the eyes of the world. This speculation doesn't even get into post-election state electoral vote count chicanery and machinations that could follow during an extended Trumpo-declared-state-of-emergency. I tell ya, this fucking thing is wide open.

Miles

6:47 PM  
Anonymous Nikki said...

Voting is 4 suckers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HeMGqTwWA6U

8:34 PM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

Here's an update of a Bob Dylan tune for All Soul's / pre-Election Day:

Virus so swift, Trump’s so miffed
Mouths won't close, Karens froze
Get your mind off election-time
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Take a bow, Tomorrow's the day
Our Wafers gonna spray
Oh, oh, are they watchin’ now, Down in history’s book!

I don't care, How many votes they cast
Tulsi went, she didn’t last
Pick up your banner, And pack up your tent
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Spray her fine
Tomorrow's the day, Merica’s gonna snooze
Oh, oh, Merican decline, Down in history’s book!

Buy me a flute, And a gun that shoots
Merican future all ka-poot
Send yourself, To the blog with roots
You ain't goin' nowhere
Whoo-ee! Let it die
Tomorrow's the day, Merica’s goin’ down
Oh, oh, when pigs gonna fly, Down in history’s book!

Georgie Carlin, He could not keep
All his flock, Supplied with sleep
They’ll climb Shining Hills no matter how steep
When they get up to it, Whoo-ee! Dream again
Tomorrow's the day, Their dreams maybe end
Oh, oh, when’s it gonna die, Down in history’s book!

8:59 AM  
Anonymous Cherith Cutestory said...

20 years later, I see in forums that Americans are still shocked and horrified by 9/11, waving the "NEVER FORGET!" banners, as if it's the most horrible thing that ever happened in human history, calling for more wars against countries they accuse of being "involved" in it. Whenever I alluded to US war crimes against native Americans, Mexicans, Iraqis, Afghans, and others, they get insane with rage and call me a Communist and other names. Here is a nation that not only ignores its history of genocide, it holds it in high esteem and will rip your throat out if you question the honor of throwing napalm, white phosphorus and daisy cutters on civilians.

Here's an idea: someone sets up a website measuring the casualties of other nations massacred by the US (directly or through sanctions etc.) in units of nine-eleven. US sanctions against Iraq killed more than 500 thousand children = America caused 166 nine-elevens in Iraq. America bombed Cambodia and killed anywhere between 150K to 500K people = America did between 50 to 166 nine-elevens in Cambodia. And so on. Maybe this is the only way these folks could realize the scope of destruction Americas has been raining on others.

12:22 PM  
Anonymous Sybok said...

Why President Biden Would Pardon Trump

"Moreover, even if Trump were prosecuted, the result would be as if he had been pardoned, because the American judicial system tends to make exceptions for the superrich. Just look at how Trump has been able to hold off the IRS by extending its audit of him for a decade, exploiting loopholes in the law to avoid penalties for his tax avoidance schemes.

Notice, too, how Trump has avoided a reckoning for the many misdeeds he’s committed throughout his life. Far from being punished for his inherent wrongness, he was awarded the presidency. These are signs of a broken judicial system and of a warped culture."

12:48 PM  
Anonymous Malleus Maleficarum said...

Florida Has 432,000 Outstanding Democratic Ballots

Josh Mendelsohn and Michael Halle at Hawkfish say Biden could win the state by 120,000 votes. But on Saturday, they warned that Biden has 432,000 outstanding ballots that have not been returned.

“If those ballots do not end up coming back in, and people do not vote them on Election Day, it would produce a Trump win of roughly 300,000 votes,” Halle estimated.


Half a million ballots "in the mail" (like the check)? I can't see how this doesn't end in utter disaster...

1:30 PM  
Anonymous Lou Herring said...

Has anyone of you read "Reaganland" by Rick Perlstein? I'm in the thick of it now: a piercing portrait of Carter and his term of presidency (it includes the warts and all ... and there are a lot of warts!). I have so much respect for Carter.

3:12 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@ alex carter : A local Vermont political observer's take on the white supremacist militia training ground. "bubbas gonna bubba" seems to sum up the state's level of concern.

https://thevpo.org/2020/11/02/the-slate-ridge-befuddlement/

FYI, Kiah Morris, referred to in the article, was the only black woman in the state legislature. After a local self-avowed white supremacist decided to harass her, threaten her, etc., with no response from local police (the guy had a few active restraining orders from OTHER PEOPLE, and weapons violations related to them), nothing was done by local or state authorities- free speech, you know.

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2019/01/02/kiah-morris-vermont-incidents-led-black-lawmaker-resign/1990565002/

Somehow when white people form terrorist armies, they are not called terrorists but 'militias.' At worst, 'armed violence,' not terrorist attacks. Militia is some quaint 2nd Amendment thing! (there are leftist forming similar militias but they know how quickly they would get stomped if they had any public face)

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/523078-study-warns-five-states-at-high-risk-for-election-related-armed-violence-by?__twitter_impression=true

Well, starting tomorrow evening the veil of civilization will start being ripped down in the US. Enjoy the show, those of you distant enough to do so safely.

5:27 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

We'll see how true this video is when the election
results come in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhBkeAo2Hlg&feature=share

5:30 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Lou-

Me too. Check out the Carter sections of DAA and WAF.

Commy-

Of course they are. Who cd doubt it?

mb

6:20 PM  
Anonymous Hello World said...

@Nadine: Have you been to North Korea?
Speaking about communism, Michael Parenti's book "Blackshirts and Reds" is a good book about the fall of the system, written in the late '90s. Soviet in, say, 1967, was very different from the Soviet of Stalin, same with Yugoslavia in 1976 or Hungary in 1984. Eastern Europe wasn't one massive prison camp. Plus you have to remember these states didn't replace democracies, but tyrannical regimes like the tsar's Russia and Batista's Cuba. This book gives some insights into the positives and negatives of these societies. communism took the social

6:48 PM  
Blogger Nesim Watani said...

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-vote-rising-among-blacks-hispanics-despite-conventional-wisdom-ncna1245787

Breaking with the conventional wisdom of the progs. It seems Trump is enjoying growing support from minorities, most notably in Black and Hispanic, at the same time he is losing support from Whites.

6:51 PM  
Blogger alex carter said...

Dan Daniel - thx for reply. I am "white passing" and growing up in Hawaii was considered white. Poverty happened and bullying occurred. Every type of media I had access to, even MAD Magazine, talked about "safe white neighborhoods" and I grew up knowing I could, if I studied and worked hard, I could leave the islands and live where I could buy a house for a year's wage, own a car, etc. Well, it's all BS. A house is 30 years' wage or more, cars are holes in the road into which you pour money. and frankly, American white people suck. They're hyper-individualistic, moral-less, (mothers pimping out their daughters etc.) thievish, and violent. "Nice white neighborhoods" are typically hellholes. In 4 more years assuming Social Security is still a thing, I can go home and maybe survive the worst parts of the self-immolation of Empire.

6:55 PM  
Anonymous Pastrami and Coleslaw said...

WAFers, my prediction for election day? Nothing. There will be voting and polling and talking heads and there won't be a result. Give it a week or two or three. There will be lawsuits and judges and challenges. Then, come December 14th the electoral college meets and faithless electors from a few states like Ohio reelect Trumpi. Then more lawsuits and challenges and it goes to the Supreme Court and hey look at that, a majority for Il Douche. By then (Jan, Feb, March even) the Amerikkkan vox populi will be all about the new covid vaccine and yay, end of the pandemic ... and nothing will happen. Sure, a few moth eaten pussy hats here and there, but back to business as usual. Truly Dark Ages America.

6:57 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

@MB - check out the faces on these guys, my nominations for Face of America 2020

https://www.fox21news.com/news/crime/november-2-fugitive-finder-the-pikes-peak-most-wanted/

7:10 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Note to ZTruth (there's a misnomer for ya!)-

Sorry, I don't post antisemitic rants on this blog. Note also that we are big on evidence here; you provided abs. none. There are thousands of antisemitic blogs out there; suggest you give them the benefit of your cutting-edge insights.

Pastrami-

Yeah, a likely scenario, altho there are more than 1, for sure. A few posts back I called the country a shit pile. Allow me to reiterate. A shit pile.

mb

7:23 PM  
Anonymous Mike R. said...

North Korea, Eritrea, and US are quite similar in fencing their "citizens."

Just look at US' FATCA (thanks to Obshitforbrains-2010) and it's highly unique citizen-based double taxation (with Eritrea and North Korea). Highest renounciation fee in the world at a whopping- 2,350$. Many overseas banks will not even touch a 'US person' because of the enormous burdens that the US/IRS require unlike almost any other country.

You are to marry American, buy American, and never ever, EVER leave America (John Richardson, citizen/tax attorney), otherwise, penalties and massive forms and fees galore. The world's premier tax, form, and penalty club. How's that "freedom"?

7:26 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

Check it out:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/02/donald-trump-us-election-base-extreme

mb

7:44 PM  
Anonymous Cel-Ray Tonic said...

I ran across this quote: "Though conspiracy theories have always existed, they note that today something is different and dangerous: “Conspiracy without the theory.”" and found this.

https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/08/12/conspiracy-theories-are-dangerous-heres-how-to-crush-them

It's rather anticlimactic and of course the people who need to read it can't read those big words to how much use is preaching to the choir?

8:50 PM  
Anonymous Unknown Knish said...

Wafers, check this out on the competition in the US which the author calls zero-sum game. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/02/donald-trump-us-election-base-extreme

"The generals and the doctors are motivated by service – and service is a concept that lies outside the orbit of the zero-sum game, because you give to others rather than take from them. In Trump-speak, service is for “suckers”."

10:10 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Unknown-

I don't post Unknowns. You need a real handle, like Fritz Scheisskopf. Thank you.

Unknown Knish-

I'm guessing most Americans wd agree w/Trumpi, to a greater or lesser extent. We now have cities and states that make it illegal to feed the homeless. What kind of country does this?

mb

3:19 AM  
Blogger David said...

@Nadine
Speaking of con artists, I live in southern CAL where that kind of people are found in spades. Every day you have to fend off con artists on the phone and internet as if scamming was going out of style. The moral degradation is not only at the top. When society has sunk to this level all bets are off.
Also I was doing physical therapy after being struck while riding my bike in my own housing compound by a hit and run driver. I casually mentioned to the staff of our wanton worship of the military and the ubiquitous posters of enlisted men and women on all our city streets. I dared suggest that instead we should put up posters of our health workers who daily risked their lives during the pandemic. I was greeted with silence and resentment that I even dared criticize our military. That is the society we live in......

7:50 AM  
Anonymous Dana said...

In Search of Healing
America is facing one of the deepest divides in our history — and, no matter who wins the election, a difficult path forward

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/10/26/gene-weingarten-divided-country-healing/?arc404=true

MB is right, hatred for each other has become just another American value.

9:25 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Dana-

More accurately: "a difficult path downward."

mb

9:46 AM  
Anonymous Namaste said...


@AmericanDream - If you think NYC is the best place on Earth, I would like to have what you are smoking :)

@Nadine Bupkis - Have you been to India/China/North Korea ? As an Indian I can tell you that while we have a shitload of problems, " Not Nicer people than America" is not one of them. Please dont compare American morons to any other set of people. I wanted to move to America a few years back, but thankfully my work required me to visit USA a few times. In those visits, I found my dirty and poor India much happier and safer place to live in than the shiny shithole USA is. And what is this nonsense about diversity that Americans talk about, bloody they cant even accept English spoken in a different accent, forget about accepting a different language.

10:53 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Note to AmericanDream-

I urge u2 pursue the Dream, amigo. This might help: Americans are exceptionally kind and caring people, and therefore easy to take advantage of. This will help you in your climb up the Ladder of Success. Rip them off, step on them, and laugh while yr doing it! I'm telling you, this is the Land of Opportunity; yr future is assured!

mb

12:11 PM  
Blogger Cyrillia Juniper said...

Happy election day, Wafers!

Incisive, witty commentary from Pakistani novelist Mohammed Hanif. Best analysis of U.S. presidents I've seen in a while. He sort of gives Jimmy Carter a pass, but zings him in the end.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/03/donald-trump-us-presidents-joe-biden

And this article at naked capitalism has charts demonstrating the favorable foreign view of the U.S. plummeting since 9/11.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/11/as-the-world-watches-us-election-the-appeal-of-america-is-diminished.html

It's rainy, foggy and cold where I am today. Perfect weather for contemplating the condition of USians.

12:16 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

Who knows who will win? But if Trumpi does, I suggest the following scenario in post-election weeks and months:

1. Schmiden will be required to walk thru every major city, wearing a sign that says, "I Am a Schmoe." (Which is of course true) People will be given baskets of rotten fruit, to throw at him. After that, he will be put in a rest home. Trumpi will visit him every day, and pee on his shoes. Kamala Harris will also walk the streets, wearing a sign that says, "I'm Nothing but a Bad Joke."

2. All non-white, non-Christian people will be rounded up, required to wear a yellow star, and sent to a detention camp in Idaho. Progs will not be treated with the utmost courtesy.

3. All governmental positions, on every level across the country, will be staffed by Proud Boys, bubbas, and Karens.

4. Trumpi will declare that his intention is to dismantle the country, as he has been doing for the last 4 yrs; and that this operation will now go into high gear. Every single institution in the country, down to mom-and-pop stores on the corner, will be shut down.

I'll wait until he wins, to send him this urgent memo.

mb

12:28 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps: Wafers are invited to suggest what roles these folks will play, in the post-election heyday: Rom, Ging, Sara Palin, Tulsi, Dan Quayle, Michele Bachmann. Also whether the 999 Plan will be revived.

12:38 PM  
Anonymous Gonzalez said...

"Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley held an off-the-record video call with top generals and network anchors this weekend to tamp down speculation about potential military involvement in the presidential election."
https://www.axios.com/milley-tv-anchors-call-military-no-election-role-1570714a-3532-4102-8f24-69fbd2d375e2.html

That this even needs saying....

12:41 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...


Dr. Berman,
I’m not sure about the rest. But I definitely think Dan “Potatoe” Quayle should be made the Secretary of Education. For a functionally illiterate population with a second grade composition/spelling level, what better choice could there be?

1:15 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

"We've rounded the corner,"says Trump.
On this election day it is fitting to celebrate America's
victory over China and its virus. Go to 00:00:50 to see
us make our move to continue to be #1 in everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN7HR7mo-H4&feature=youtu.be

3:34 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

This is nice. I love Americans.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/03/us/michigan-jewish-cemetery-desecration-trnd/index.html

mb

4:16 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

The 2020 Election results are in:

Schmoe Biden 0%
Trumpi Trumpicus 0%
Mauricio Belman 100%

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8

Miles

4:18 PM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

Americandream--wish you best. Enjoy that great american "health" "care" for profit corporation, tons of fantastic student loans, employment at will doctrines, no mandated vacation time so more hustling opps!, massive documentations/forms for tax filings each and every year thanks to those US corporate lobbyists, when you get old/grey and need assistive living/home support--you can give all your riches back to the US "health" corporations!

Forget US FATCA/CBT etc..the us empire is the best! who in their right mind would even consider leaving?!? Likely lazy losers who are socialists/commies who just want to not work hard and pay taxes for our awesome incredible war corporation!

Oh! Don't forget the truly fascinating us-ian dipshits, I mean populace! Talk about wisdom -intellectual, ontologic and spiritual-they're so interesting. They know their narrative and the structure of the us empire--never a dull moment....

Fun times! Good luck and good night. Oh, BTW, vote because it really matters, you are part of something, they really 'care' about you, listen to those amazing speeches... Now get back to work!

4:49 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

"...but I'm not the only one..." (172 Wafers)

mb

5:05 PM  
Anonymous Riffe said...

It doesn't matter which candidate wins the presidential race. Neither has the desire or the intellect to change the System and as long as the System is in place, they will serve it, as all of their predecessors have done in the last 175 years. Unfettered, free market capitalism is the work of America - its what we live and die for. And no political party or President is going to change that. Especially as the parties are but variations of a single ideology.

5:30 PM  
Anonymous Claudio said...

*How US strategists lost empathy, along with their wars*

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/11/03/how-u-s-strategists-lost-simple-empathy-along-with-their-wars/

6:42 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Riffe-

And supported by both bubbas and progs. What chance for change, if no one really wants it? Appearances are deceiving. Half the country consists of violent lunatics; the other half, of ineffectual goofballs. Each side has its corresponding representative. So it looks like some life and death struggle for 'the soul of the nation'. But the soul consists of hustling, and both sides are committed to that as a way of life. In short, yr rt. Schmiden may win, but his 'changes' will be cosmetic. Everyone is in an uproar over this election, including the clowns at the NYT. But how many Americans understand that the underlying value system and way of life will remain intact? 172 Wafers plus Native Americans plus a handful of serious critics, I'm guessing. That way of life is a mistake, and needs to disappear...wh/is happening on a daily basis. Trumpi has done much to accelerate the process; hopefully, he will be given 4 more yrs to do increasing amts of damage. To those hi-IQ morons at the NYT and elsewhere, who write editorials on how this trajectory must be reversed, I say: "Walk over to the Atlantic Ocean, wave your arms, and say to the Ocean,'Go back, go back'."

mb

7:05 PM  
Anonymous Birney Zouave said...

Dr. B-

Some election news from Pennsylvania-

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/11/pa-man-going-to-vote-accidentally-shoots-himself-in-car-outside-polling-place-police.html

7:59 PM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

Hey WAFers,

I think we all understand that Trump is just a symptom of America's deep cultural sickness.

I do have to say that's AMAZING that the race is this close. We're literally on the edge of our seats trying to determine whether the reality TV show psychopath should have the nuclear football.

You have to give it to us, Dr. Berman. We are an entertaining lot.

Also, my wife and I are taking your advice. We're buying a house in Iceland and moving back there with our daughter next year.

Go Trumpenfuhrer! We're counting on you!

9:19 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Louis-

Smart move! You might wanna review your chess openings. I'm watching the returns on cnn live rt now; the 2 jokers are neck and neck. Keep in mind that half the country consists of violent, stupid people, and half of clueless douchebags. Anyway, Trumpi cd still pull it out.

mb

10:49 PM  
Anonymous Sybok said...

How To Profit During a Pandemic: A Ferangi's Guide

None of the pandemic hustles described in this video truly shocked me; but they did give me a few chuckles. Props to Roddenberry for tricking Americans into believing only some monstrous, bat-faced alien species could pursue profit with the shameless abandon that Americans do every day of the week.

11:41 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

Not everyone was shocked by 9/11. As I said at the time to that guy from Iowa who died of COVID last spring, what surprised me was that it took so long before someone finally hit back.

I made this post on the Class Struggle Anarchism site on that day: "Welcome to Ramallah." I was surprised at the reaction, given that I was among anarchists. It was much the same as everywhere else. "No, this is exceptional." "The world will never be the same" and &c.

As for the Commnis' and their repressive regimes, maybe they were inevitable, considering how a state such as the USSR was besieged on all fronts before finally establishing itself. Even Canadians attacked it during the civil war. Is it any wonder that someone as skilled in violence as Stalin would emerge as leader?

Now consider the fate of leftist leaders who weren't very skilled in violence, such as Salvador Allende and Mohammed Mosaddegh. What their histories teach us is HALF-PAGE LIMIT MET

12:02 AM  
Blogger took_the_red_pill said...

A prescient Tweet about the election:

Richard Haass (president of CFR): This is a deeply divided nation

"Whatever the ultimate outcome of this election, this is a deeply divided country along political and cultural lines alike. Bodes badly for governing at home and for building a consensus as to the country’s role in the world. Sobering by any and every measure."

If any of you have lingering doubts about the bad-faith nature of the Trumper dead-enders, just peruse some of their moronic responses to Mr. Haass. Why in the world QAnon idiots would think that members of the CFR would be interested in anything they have to say is beyond me. Check out some of their accounts, starting with the third response from "Marcos" (@marcosdutra).

To be fair, there are some thoughtful responses amidst the QAnon chaff.

1:01 AM  
Anonymous Champlain said...

MB is your faux alter-ego AmericanDream. BTW it's an anti-"white" system - immigration like H1B's subsidized to displace domestics further steal tech (ignored by the media kept out of the polit-buro courts) - but for who? Who would possibly benefit from all the immigration into the West. Multi-culti - so healthy and what the public wants and are getting every day.

Sometimes thanks to the social engineering I feel like the only good "white" guy is childless, gay, or dead. Nature loves a vacuum - who wants to be white? All these pro-commies - what are they peak oilers (propping up over-population)? I have a good laugh at your blog - to tears mostly. Yet Wafers are the best clearest thinkers . . .

1:04 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Champlain-

I'll be honest: I wasn't able to figure out what you were saying. Your post is incoherent (to me); sort of like a scrambled egg.

mb

1:14 AM  
Anonymous cubeangel said...

AmericanDream

You said and I quote "You can achieve great success irrespective of your background..." You also said and I quote "Not everyone can be successful..."

Is it true that everyone and anyone can succeed in the USA irrespective of one's background or is it true that not everyone can be successful in the USA? Which is it exactly? You contradict yourself.

AmericanDream

You said and I quote "You can achieve great success irrespective of your background..." You also said and I quote "Not everyone can be successful..."

Is it true that everyone and anyone can succeed in the USA irrespective of one's background or is it true that not everyone can be successful in the USA? Which is it exactly? You contradict yourself.

And, I'm in China working with mostly people from Canada at my job. I'm treated way better than when I was in the USA.

2:34 AM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

You probably missed this gem. It looks like the Supreme Court
will probably elect him.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/joe-biden-donald-trump-us-election-063923575.html

4:10 AM  
Anonymous Waesfjord said...

@ AmericanDream

I visited San Fran in 98. I met lots of Irish, Brits, Euros, Hispanics all pursuing the American "dream". Most of them had lived there 5 to 10 years but they were all still on the lowest economic rung of the ladder working in bars, construction or moving furniture. After 5 years!? It must be hard to admit that you've bought a crock of shit. Anyway, best of luck to you and mind your wallet.

Dear Dr Berman, Wafers, I started learning chess: I am debating with myself how much time to invest in this beautiful game. Any insights would be gratefully appreciated.

8:06 AM  
Anonymous AmericanDream said...

Mr. Berman - Haha Thanks I get the sarcasm. I will definitely try to achieve success here and I am sure this Country will let me have a shot at it ! I think for people commenting here about NYC/USA, it didn't work out for them or they quit without trying harder. I have seen people from all backgrounds of life succeed here. And of course there are some scam/con artists but you will find them everywhere on Earth.

Cubeangel - What I mean is that NYC/CAL ( and in most parts of USA) you have a shot at being successful irrespective of your background and it is more probable here than in any other part of the World. Of course success is not guaranteed for everyone but still you have a great chance of being economically better off even if you don't make it to the top.

9:04 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

AmericanDream-

Just to be clear: when I say to you, "Go for it!", I *mean* it. It's what you believe, and until reality says otherwise, you shd 'follow yr dreams'. Personally, I wish you the best of luck. You might also check out story #2 in "The Heart of the Matter."

Waes-

Check out the movie "Pawn Sacrifice."

As for the current election mess: A stand divided against itself cannot house. I've been saying it all along: The only thing that can save us is a mass conversion to Tulsism. Until Americans embrace the Tulsic way of life, there can be no peace in the land.

mb

9:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations...

The third act features the resolution of the story and its subplots. The climax is the scene or sequence in which the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point...

A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device which features a precarious or difficult dilemma, used to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma...

10:46 AM  
Anonymous RueBourbon said...

Uh, replace the name Tulsi with Kamala. That-a-boy!

11:18 AM  
Blogger Brian said...

James Kunstler on Election Day,

“The election has rolled out as expected here – that is, not resolved the morning after, with Antifa and BLM rioters already moiling in the streets of Washington D.C. Portland, Oregon, remains in continual uproar after four months of violence and destruction, and Mayor Ted Wheeler won reelection against “Antifa candidate” Sarah Iannarone. Lucky Portland.…“I’ll be voting for Mr. Trump tomorrow in my little bid to prevent the Democratic Party from getting its depraved mitts on the levers of government”.

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/the-awful-reckoning/

Yet another American "intellectual" fallen into the primitive schizoid position emblematic of America’s right wing and left wing. Dr. Berman, I will never doubt you again. Yes, in America, even the smart people are stupid.
We are now past the limits of the human mind’s ability to explain how a society can be composed of persons infinitely dumber than an inbred rock.

Nothing left to do but laugh!

12:24 PM  
Anonymous Harrington said...

Frontpage Headline on today's Le Monde: “The United States is tearing itself apart”

1:23 PM  
Blogger vsoguy said...

Dear Dr. Berman,

https://youtu.be/chEbezKKrMs

Sincerely,
The Tulsinator

1:28 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

Hermann Cain (from the grave), your 999 plan could have helped us w/all this mashugana.

Also, where's Romm Mittney, Ging Newtrich, 'Jean Sherrie (John Kerry), Al Bore, and Sarah Palin--please give us some sage advice as we sail through these turbulent us-ian waters--we must "save" our fantastic "democracy" against those damn commies. I am so clueless as to what to do. Maybe just some follow "Americandream's" advice--work hard and wait for that ship of riches to come in!

1:34 PM  
Anonymous Malleus Maleficarum said...

14 arrested in late-night Minneapolis protest

Fourteen people were arrested late Tuesday after a few dozen protesters marched along Lyndale Avenue toward Lake Street in Minneapolis, holding a banner that read “America is over” while protesting police brutality.

14 honorary Wafers?

2:00 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

As I said in a previous post, I'm glad it looks like Biden is going to win. No worries, the Republicans still have the senate, so there is no real halt to the collapse. I just need a breather (!), as I'm sure many fellow waters here can relate to.

Still, can you believe that it's actually this close? I can, though it is still astonishing that this ignorant, cruel, sociopathic buffoon won so many states, and literally got half of the vote from this ignorant, foolish and moronic country. "Rah rah, here's to separating six month old babies permanently from their parents! We're number 1!"

2:15 PM  
Anonymous Silva said...

/The early Roman empire wasn’t just a pagan empire – it was a world dominated by the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of paganism. How did it become a Christian-majority state?/

https://aeon.co/essays/pagan-complacency-and-the-birth-of-the-christian-roman-empire

Wow, cool read.

2:17 PM  
Anonymous crazy stan said...

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/03/donald-trump-julius-caesar-433956

Politico Magazine

HISTORY DEPT.

America Is Eerily Retracing Rome’s Steps to a Fall. Will It Turn Around Before It’s Too Late?
Two thousand years ago, the famous Republic had a chance to reject a dangerous populist. It failed, and the rest is history.


this seems up your alley MB

3:49 PM  
Anonymous Krakhed said...

Notice how this author thinks Trump is the problem and we can all go back to fantasyland once Biden is elected after the votes are counted.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/04/opinions/who-is-winning-the-election-roundup/index.html

My gut feeling is that Trump is just the first in a line of egomaniac morons. Even if Biden wins, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Trump ticket in 2024.

Trump is doing his best to rile up the Bubbas. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1323864823680126977

The USA is really in trouble if a cunning authoritarian takes charge.

3:51 PM  
Anonymous Riffe said...

More on American capitalism and an explanation of Trump's success: The Chris Rock character (black mob boss) in last Sunday's episode of Fargo: "Every country has its own type criminal. In America, we got the confidence man, salesman, grifter[hustler]. He don't rob you as much as trick you into robbing yourself. Because you see, in America people want to believe. They got that dream. And a dreamer, you can fleece."

5:20 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Megan-

In WAF, I claim that the Civil War never ended. This is what we are seeing today. 1st, the country is split down the middle, and a Schmiden victory ain't gonna change that. 2nd, look how demented Americans are: nearly half the electorate voted for a violent lunatic, and actually think he's the cat's meow. There is simply no repairing this absurd nation; our collapse is inevitable.

Malleus-

They got that rt, obviously. Roll out the T-shirts.

Dr. Shit-

Let me help u w/yr Yiddish. 'Meshugana' is the adjective--crazy. If you want the noun, i.e., craziness, the word is 'meshugas'. As for Herman, the combo of Tulsism and the 999 Plan cd actually save the country.

vso-

Hard not to projectile vomit. What a pile of crap that woman is.

Rue-

Well, at least our next VP has half a brain, n'est-ce pas?

Brian-

There is *something* we can do, as Wafers. Pile into an airplane, fly to Hawaii, and pee on Tulsi's shoes. Meanwhile, whatever happened to the Proud Boys, the bubbim, and the bubbot? Why haven't they descended on the White House, armed to the teeth? Or on Schmiden's house, guns blazing?

mb

5:51 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Who needs Sarah Palin when you got this;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Boebert

Possible 2024 candidate

7:22 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Gunnar-

My kinda gal! A bubbot!

mb

7:45 PM  
Anonymous Pastrami and Coleslaw said...

Anyone else need a break, and an apt one at that:

https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/ubiquitous-medieval-pigs

8:13 PM  
Anonymous Michael King said...

Krakhed, Tom Cotton, newly re-elected Arkansas Senator, fits the "cunning authoritarian" role in spades. He's been on my radar for a few years. His speech at this summer's Republican Convention revealed a tightly wound angry man. Danger alert fellow Wafers!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/opinion/tom-cotton-protests-military.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-cotton-laying-groundwork-2024-presidential-run-new-hampshire-2020-10

9:20 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

An interesting quick discussion of a problem in the US whether Trump or Biden wins- there are close to 70 million people who voted for Trump. As this guy puts it, they are in a mythical magical cult that is at war to protect their leader. Rationality, reason, discussion won't work. They are at war. Anything goes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHWvtSaLGSg

9:26 PM  
Blogger FarmerBrown said...

MB,Wafers, Good day, good evening to you.
Here is the english translation of Brecht’s Die Lösung - The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writer’s Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts.   Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

And The Swahili say Nyani haoni kundule meaning The ape does not see its own hind parts. Thus points to and ridicules those of others.
As Prof Berman is wont to say, even the smart ones are dumb. Better words have been uttered, but rarely. N’est-ce pas?

9:50 PM  
Blogger k_pgh said...

Re: Medieval

In taberna quando sumus

And a version by Corvus Corax (aka Tanzwut) with lyrics

10:08 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Dan D-

Here's my problem: where are all the bubbas w/their guns? Recall how they stormed the Michigan legislature a while back, w/semi-automatic weapons? Was this just for show?

Here we have Schmiden on the edge of victory, Trumpi mounting lawsuits left and rt, and the bubbas are completely silent. I don't get it. I wd expect that they wd try to shoot Schmiden, as well as major prog figures, to insure a Trumpaloni victory. So all of that Proud Boy crap: that was just swaggering, posturing? The only thing I can think of is that their testicles never descended. Do you or other Wafers have any other suggestions?

mb

11:01 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps: Wd it be rt to exclaim, at this pt, "boogaloo my ass!"?

11:02 PM  
Blogger took_the_red_pill said...

Krakhed:

Check out the articles by Tom Nichols that I linked in a recent post. His most recent piece for The Atlantic is especially apropos:

At Least Never Trumpers Stood and Fought

Nichols predicts your scenario exactly; in your words, "...Trump is just the first in a line of egomaniac morons...USA is really in trouble if a cunning authoritarian takes charge". He mentions Tom Cotton as a likely contender. The guys from the show Chapo Trap House (particularly Matt Christman) also consider Cotton one of several possible authoritarian candidates. Cotton has a frightening lust for power, and he's not at all interested in living the "white trash Versailles" lifestyle that renders Trump so corruptible and therefore easily controlled (e.g. by Putin, etc.). Christman warned on one of the Chapo shows that "what we're gonna get after Trump will be much worse".

As for your prediction about a "Trump ticket in 2024"; there's not much doubt about that. I've even heard suggestions that Trump may run again in 2024--that is if all those Big Macs don't get him first. Nothing in the Constitution prevents that scenario. More likely, one of his failchildren will run (supposedly Ivanka has first dibs).

11:05 PM  
Anonymous Ziggy Zag said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPRM8cjilbk

DW is the equivalent of PBS and views Amiracle in the same
way. That these patriots think that Trump and guns will
make their country great again solely for their benefit
is a miraculous delusion revealing how little they in fact
benefit from being in the country.

11:10 PM  
Anonymous DitchDigger said...

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the Jews will win the election.

12:07 AM  
Blogger Nesim Watani said...

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/theres-no-escaping-who-we-have-become/616992/

America is a nation of two separate peoples not defined by race. Trump's Latino and Black support has thrown the identitarians Libs and Leftists for a spin. Texas and Florida both came down to the Latino vote who overwhelmingly voted Trump.

What I think this man has failed to grasp is what this will mean on the International stage. Oh, and may I add 100k people tested positive for the Coronavirus. The US is a nation of irredeemable morons.

1:42 AM  
Blogger comrade simba said...

MB, I certainly don't want my ass boogaloo'd. Not to happy about having to drop to the knees to satisfy the other half of the insanity.

3:37 AM  
Anonymous rumpelstiltskin said...

Dr. Berman,

Are you bummed that The Donald appears to be on the verge of losing the election?

Cheer up! He can't possibly lose. He's got the ultimate Ace in the hole:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VDtdTYQN6Q

4:17 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

rump-

Yes, a tad depressed. He cd have done so much damage! But there's always 2024.

"Ach wie gut, dass niemand weiß, dass ich Rumpelstilzchen heiß!"

Nesim-

The imbecility of Americans is persistently overlooked in every analysis of our situation, except mine. Meanwhile, why do you think blacks and Latinos voted for Trumpi?

Ditch-

I'm with you. Of course, that was the hidden agenda all along. Schmiden is some type of Jew-lover, that's for sure (isn't his real name Schmendrick?). In any case, it's destined that Jews will rule the world; they are plotting world domination as we speak. Chopped liver for everyone! (But I confess I'd prefer a declinist candidate, regardless of his or her religion. The promise? To shut down every institution in the country.)

comrade-

Sorry, I shd have written, "boogaloo? my ass!" Your rectal region is probably safe.

Meanwhile, if we do have a Schmiden victory, then what? Cosmetic changes, 0 more. Another Obama admin, with lofty speeches and the attempt to tread water--but this time in the context of a raging disease and economic collapse. One thing this election has made clear, altho some of us knew it yrs ago: the nation is irredeemiably broken in two. Its spine is cracked; it's paralyzed.

mb

6:42 AM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

https://www.latimes.com/projects/election-2020-trump-biden-ads-latino-voters/

Not surprising that Trumpiono won Texas, Florida, and others, for those w/ a working frontal lobe.

Most NYT/WashCompost/policy "experts," appear completely out of touch w/ the realities (psychosis) of lower-middle class/middle class daily life for Latinos/Blacks/Cubans/Whites etc.. Look for more editorials/commentaries of elitist-academic imbeciles stating 'we screwed up'-we needs tos, we shoulds, we oughts tos......lip service and mouth flatulence.

Perhaps, they'll fund another 'water is wet'/'winter, cold' study examining the why? And even then, highly likely more window dressing and lofty PC speeches amounting to jack shit.

Preaching to choir, we're circling the drain, and history is doing it's part to the big mistake (Freud).

8:49 AM  
Blogger Himanshu said...

Dear Dr. Berman,
You might recall this quote by Joe Bageant:

"Essentially, it comes down to the fact that a very large portion of Americans are crazier than shithouse rats led by a gang of pathological misfits most of whom are preachers and politicians."

We are seeing this in full display these days.

Himanshu

9:13 AM  
Anonymous Northern Johnny said...

Hello Dr. B and WAFERS:

After the troubles he went through in the spring, Chris Hedges is back. This short video, American Psychosis, is a good example of what his return looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpkz6GMsJ1g&ab_channel=UNM. He tries to walk a fine line between honest assessment and justified pessimism and holding to his view that we must refuse to be silent, stand and be counted, and speak truth to power, no matter how insane society gets.

Earlier in this thread, another WAFER compared the U.S. election to a reality TV show and suggested its ultimate propaganda function lies not in electing a new leader - there is ultimately but one political party in the U.S. - but to ensure Americans and the world focus their attention on America.

In any case, if Biden wins, it will be said that this is evidence that American democracy continues to self-correct. Of course, this is also just American propaganda: America never self-corrects; rather, America moves closer, each decade/generation, to perfecting itself, and that self was born long before liberal democracy appeared on the scene.

-Northern Johnny

9:18 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Unknown-

I don't post Unknowns. You need a real handle to participate. Thank you.

Johnny-

I imagine by this time it must be exhausting to be Chris Hedges. Or perhaps even boring.

mb

11:04 AM  
Anonymous The Flabster said...

Flabster here, regarding Bubba. I am half bubba via upbringing, hunting, guns, factory jobs etc. As an adult I’ve spent about half my life living around and working with him.

First we are not totally out of the woods. Right now they are half despondent Trump didn’t win in a landslide. Many are feeling things out, there hasn’t been a call to arms from Trump.

Second, Dr. Berman you would be correct the talk is mostly just that, talk. In the Clinton years (90s) you would not believe the number of threats against the president I heard uttered by neighbors, family friends, etc in one of the rural area I lived in. Similar comments about Obama were less common, which I still find surprising. For most, militia behavior Is cosplay, dress up. Others are much more dangerous, though they are rare.

Lastly is the strange dual nature of the whole thing. Almost all of these guys (99%) are able on some level to distinguish between reality and the cosplay aspect. They know exactly where the line is in terms of things that you can get away with and what will land you in prison. When you first meet them this is not apparent at all.









11:39 AM  
Anonymous Mike R. said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir02iM2MkMI

Think of all those hundreds of millions from corporate hustling to be wasted on bullshit...could have helped folks with health care, education, pensions, job security, etc...

How did they 'get' all that money? Oh, yah...working "hard."

12:30 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

[I posted this earlier, but it didn't go through]

There isn't a lot to say after this:
"The US empire is a serial killer with a horrifying grin stretched over its blood-spattered face. A smiley faced psychopath babbling about civil rights and the importance of inclusive language while chopping a Yemeni child to pieces."

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/11/03/the-us-empire-is-a-smiley-faced-serial-killer/

3:52 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

al-

In a nutshell.

Flabster-

Recall that in the 2nd debate, Trumpi told the Proud Boys to "stand by." Stand by to do what, exactly? Their current silence is deafening. 'Boys' is the operative word here. Their testes did not descend. All that swaggering, braggadocio, puffery...bunch o' clowns, imo. I urinate on them.

mb

4:17 PM  
Anonymous Eric Jensen said...

I was looking for a candidate that wants to promote more war, keep the middle class down, kowtow to Wall St, end Medicare and Social Security, roll back environmental regulations, reduce healthcare options, and bolster police aggression. I'm 'Merican and that what it is all about. The good news is that my candidate will win (either way).
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/505758-trump-us-president-win-vote/

[actually I voted Socialist and lost]

4:48 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Eric-

Commie pinko.

mb

4:49 PM  
Blogger Sanguillen39 said...

Mr. Berman,

I'm writing in regards to your comments about Boogaloo and their tactics. There has been a lot of talk in some mainstream/social media circles that Trump and his Bubbas are comparable to Hitler and the Nazi Party. Not even close. Trump was never a "party" organizer in the same way Hitler became for the Nazis. Trump rallies have nothing on Leni Riefenstahl and Hitler's parades. Trump has no real association with the Bubbas on a personal level. Hitler fought infantry battles in WWI, was imprisoned, was a struggling artist, and lived in a homeless shelter in Vienna. Trump inherited his father's fortune and has no idea what poverty is like. The Bubbas see him as someone who increased US employment, didn't take away their guns away, lowered their taxes, and didn't give a fuck about political correctness. They'll bitch that the election was rigged. So, we will see a couple state recounts and the courts will make judgments on the lawsuits. But when the smoke clears, everybody will see that Trump lost pretty much "fair and square" and the Bubbas will go home to their families, deer camps, beer-drinking, and 9-5 lives just like the rest of us.

And yes, Biden is just cosmetic. He speaks like an old robot. He is just a different colored lipstick on an ugly pig called America.

5:50 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Sang-

In future, pls send messages to most recent post. No one reads the older stuff. Thank you.

mb

8:26 AM  

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