Recent Items

2:00PM Water Cooler 8/8/2024

Posted on by

By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Patient readers, I am struggling to finish my long delayed-by-events post on mask bans, so this is an open thread. –lambert

P.S. However, as a conversation starter, when digging into the oppo on Walz’s military record yesterday, I asked for a timeline. Here is one:

The ‘Swift Boating’ of Tim Walz has begun. What is the truth? Task & Purpose. Fun fact:

“Swiftboat” is a political short-hand for the 2004 media campaign that attacked Democrat John Kerry’s combat experience as a Navy officer aboard riverine patrol boats in Vietnam, known to their crews as Swift Boats. That campaign, run by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, was run by Chris LaCivita, who is now a co-manager of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Which says nothing about the merits, of course, if any. But everything old is new again!

Bird Song of the Day

Readers have been so happy with the mockingbirds I’m going to keep doing them. Now entering Day Four of Week Three!

Long-tailed Mockingbird, ACP Chaparrí–Chaparrí Ecolodge, Lambayeque, Peru; “Communal chatter from several birds at a roost area near the lodge grounds. The mockingbird ‘epicenter’ of Chaparri.”

* * *

Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From Lee:

Lee writes: “A nameless weed bursts green from a narrow crack in the pavement even with a steel stake through its heart. This one I’ll not uproot.”

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:

Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
This entry was posted in Guest Post, Water Cooler on by .

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

Subscribe to Post Comments
23 comments

    1. JTMcPhee

      Partial thanks go to the Dulles bros, J E Hoover, my uncle, and of course William Casey, fmr CIA director:

      “We will know that our program of disinformation is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

      Fear, uncertainty and doubt — part of every successful sales pitch.

      Reply ↓
    2. tegnost

      so everythings going according to plan! Good to hear…
      Lately all I feel is…well…an unspeakable joy springing like holistically organic rejuvenation…just a overweening feeling of out with the old and in with the new, kind of like when your favorite brunch stop adds shallots to your avocado toast and you got the last mimosa out of the bottle so you got a double dose…burpgiggle hehe…I’m so happy!s

      Reply ↓
    3. midtownwageslave

      I think informational warfare is a goal of certain govt agencies and other private sector factions/orgs.

      There are opportunities in chaos.

      Reply ↓
  2. Randall Flagg

    That weed in the picture has the familiarity of looking like a dandelion, that is past it’s due by date… But of course I could be wrong.

    The word weed always reminds me of the saying: “There’s no such things as a weed, just a plant growing where you don’t want it to.”

    Reply ↓
  3. Carla

    Lee, your plantidote is a dandelion — edible leaves, and yellow blossoms that can be made into dandelion wine. Of course, your specimen may not be particularly savory, because of where it is growing.

    Reply ↓
  5. Stephen V

    That appears to be a Dandelion or its cousin — Hare Thistle (Sonchus). I let them grow (in my “lawn) simply for the sake of their geonetry.

    Reply ↓
  8. fjallstrom

    I have been pondering the Harris campaign strategy.

    I would characterise what we have seen so far as a mostly succesfull attempt at creating a narrative of success. Similar to a bubble, it is all about creating hype and try to drag more people in by convincing them that everyone else is doing it. One of the earliest (maybe the first) poll of Trump vs Harris were Harris was in the lead was from Yougov, were you can manipulate to get the result you want. (Yougov is open for creating your own account with every email adress you have got. Are you white, black or asian? Man or woman? Young or old? Why not all…) Good start to set the narrative.

    Then we have the different groups coming together to endorse Harris,, and the endless articles about how well it is going. Get hype!

    In this context the choice of Walz is interesting. Walz is probably as far left as an accetable vice president candidate could be today. And he has been hyped before the choice to create the hype story. Bidens poor poll numbers among young and minority voters may have led the Harris campaign to realise that the voters on the left can’t be taken for granted. And since what the left really wants – peace and material benefits – can’t be granted without creating a conflict with the donor class, a vp slot is what has to do.

    Just to be clear, hyping can work, in particular if you have the media with you. Macron was endlessly hyped in his first run to create a new, fresh challenger out of the economic minister from the unpopular Hollande government.

    Don’t know if the hype will last three months. But then again what was the first Obama campaign if not hype? (And holding up a mirror where the voter could see their own desires reflected in “hope” and “change”.)

    Reply ↓
    1. Mark Gisleson

      Early voting changes things and they may be inflating the balloon way early because they know early voting is their best shot at winning.

      At some point Ukraine will fall. If before election day, all votes cast after the surrender will probably favor Trump-Vance.

      Expect enormous pressure to vote early as soon as it’s possible to do so.

      Reply ↓
  9. Lost in OR

    The presence of the flower stem indicates the leaves will be quite astringent. You got to get them when they’re young.

    Reply ↓
  10. kareninca

    I had expected the insurance problem in California to hit home and now it has. Our condo association is losing its coverage because the company we have had for decades is leaving the state. Our board is desperate to get any sort of coverage at nearly any price, but is not making much progress. The latest news is that everyone who has an original circuit breaker panel has to have a new one installed, in order for any company to consider us (that will be $6,500 per unit). I have a friend whose condo association gave up on insurance a couple of years ago; they have none; it was just too expensive. I don’t understand how people are able to get mortgages and buy units in his pace, but they still are doing so.

    I had thought we might do better than some associations because our area has never, ever had a wildfire problem, and it is buffered from wildfire in a number of ways. But here we go.

    Reply ↓
  11. Carolinian

    Trump challenges Harris to three debates.

    “Donald Trump has challenged Kamala Harris to three presidential debates in September, saying he has agreements with three US television networks, pending consensus by the vice-president’s campaign.

    Trump’s campaign clarified the agreed debate dates were for September 4 on Fox, September 10 on ABC and September 25 on NBC”.

    https://www.ft.com/content/77561e64-1cd3-4a52-bd6c-6351c5005915

    Reply ↓
  12. antidlc

    Covid Olympics

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/08/08/lyles-suffering-from-covid-finishes-3rd-in-olympic-upset-at-200-meters/74725198007/
    Lyles, suffering from COVID, finishes 3rd in Olympic upset at 200 meter

    https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/lozano-tested-positive-covid-days-olympic-debut-19628484.php
    Lozano tested positive for COVID days before Olympic debut

    What a great idea. Let’s normalize COVID and just convince everyone to “power through”.

    What a stupid, stupid timeline.

    Reply ↓
  14. ChrisFromGA

    Notice that “muckets” started rallying once Operation: Toilet Paper! got restarted in Japan.

    Q: What’s the Japanese word for toilet paper?

    A: Yen

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *