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WASHINGTON ― There’s a raging political debate about why voters hate the economy despite low unemployment, rising wages, slowing inflation and strong consumer spending.
Are people brainwashed by TikTok? Is it partisan misinformation, or maybe too much gloomy journalism?
Did no one notice the plummeting cost of a dozen eggs?
These are the questions vexing the White House as President Joe Biden’s poll numbers slump ahead of the 2024 election.
Here’s another possible reason for the bitter views of the economy, a policy explanation hiding in plain sight:
Some people’s lives are harder now than they were three years ago because the government is doing less.
https://www.huffpost.com/
Gaza. Everybody’s lost interest. It’s fallen down the charts. The audience has moved on. If this were a band, the pause in fighting would be perceived as a career misstep, a loss in momentum, something hard to recover from.
You’ve got to agree that Taylor Swift knows how to fight a war. During a pause in the action, with the tour down, she got involved with Travis Kelce. And that death in Brazil, tragic, but it allowed Swift to show compassion. And why isn’t there a call for cancellation of shows and festivals during heat waves? Oh, that’s right, money talks and we’re the living proof, the show must go on!
Kinda like in the wake of the Travis Scott tragedy. He’s back on the road. Supposedly not doing such great business, but that has not dripped into the fawning press coverage, writers have no clue, Travis has been rehabilitated, being contrite, right before our eyes.
If there’s one lesson we’ve learned from the recent history of the airline industry, it’s this: The bigger airlines get, the worse they become. The prices get higher, the seats smaller, the service ever snarkier.
The DLC’s National Communications Director, Abhi Rahman, laid it out for Rolling Stone magazine:
https://hartmannreport.com/p/“Young people are the reason why Biden won in 2020 and Democrats up and down the ballot won in 2022 and 2023. If Gen Z continues to vote, we’re on the cusp of the most progressive era in our country’s history. Republicans know this as well, and that’s why they’re doing everything they can to stop young people from voting, including the fight for restrictions that we’re seeing play out in states like Wisconsin today.”
Liz Cheney was a three-term US congresswoman, the third-ranking Republican in the House, the daughter of a former Republican vice president, and a deeply hard-line conservative when she made, in the GOP’s eyes, an unforgivable, borderline treasonous mistake: voting to impeach Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection on January 6, 2021. That she then refused to apologize and instead continued to loudly proclaim the 45th president a clear and present danger to democracy led to her being ousted from her leadership position. Her role as vice chair on the January 6 committee no doubt sealed the deal (re: her losing her House seat to MAGA convert Harriet Hageman).
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., recently set off an internet food fight when she declared her support for the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into whether a private equity firm’s purchase of sandwich chain Subway should be allowed to go ahead. “We do not need another private equity deal that could lead to higher food prices for consumers,” she wrote on X.
Best Special
TV in 2023 was like synchronized swimming. Below the surface, there was roiling and churn. The writers’ and actors’ strikes wiped out much of the production year. The hangover from the corporate binge on streaming platforms led to cancellations and cutbacks. A number of hall-of-fame series left the air, with no clear plan of, as it were, succession.
But above the waterline, the dance went on. As usual, it was challenging to whittle down my year-end list to 10. (So I picked 11.) As usual, I am listing it in alphabetical, not ranked order. As usual, I made it a rule not to repeat shows from the previous year, and as usual, I broke that rule. (I couldn’t not include “Reservation Dogs.”)
Getting old in FLORIDA
in Longboat Key, doing nothing.
'Who drives you to the beach?'
retirement home in Anna Maria Island, reminiscing.
The first lady recalled shopping at the green grocers
and demonstrated with her hands, the length and
thickness of a cucumber she could buy for a penny.
used to be much bigger and cheaper also, and
demonstrated the size of two big onions
she could buy for a penny a piece.
'I can't hear a word you're saying,
but I remember the guy you're talking about.
On Top Of The World, a Florida adult community.
A man walked over and sits down on the other end of the bench. After a few moments, the woman asks,
'Are you a stranger here?'
'I killed my wife.'
he was a widower and she a widow,
had known each other for a number of years.
One evening there was a community supper in the Clubhouse.
As the meal went on, he took a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered the courage to ask her,
'Will you marry me?'
she answered 'Yes. Yes, I will!'
Next morning, he was troubled.
'Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'?'
Try as he might, he just could not recall.
Not even a faint memory.
as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past.
As he gained a little more courage, he inquired,
'When I asked if you would marry me,
did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?'
'Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart.' Then she continued, 'And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me.'
It cost me four thousand dollars,
but it's state of the art. It's perfect.'
'What kind is it?'
But the old soldier insisted and confirmed his choice provided that the measurement is taken by a military doctor.
Military doctor arrived and asked the Sergeant Major to drop his pants, which he did.
The doctor placed the tape measure on the tip of the penis and proceeded backwards ..'My God!' said the doctor, but where are your testicles?
The old sergeant major replied calmly:
"In Afghanistan! "
A sweet grandmother
Telephoned St. Joseph's Hospital. She timidly asked,
"Is it possible to speak to someone who can tell me how a patient is doing?"The operator said,
"I'll be glad to help, dear. What's the name and room number of the patient?"The grandmother in her weak, tremulous voice said, Norma Findlay, Room 302."The operator replied,
"Let me put you on hold while I check with the nurse's station for that room."After a few minutes, the operator returned to the phone and said,
"I have good news. Her nurse just told me that Norma is doing well. Her blood pressure is fine; her blood work just came back normal and her
Physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged tomorrow."The grandmother said,
"Thank you. That's wonderful. I was so worried. God bless you for the good
News."The operator replied,
"You're more than welcome. Is Norma your daughter?"The grandmother said, "No, I'm Norma Findlay in Room 302. No one tells me shit."TRUE STORY
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