The Frankish Reich

Yep. They got a good one, dammit. Who is scouting the Panthers for us? Fortunately I don't have access to that snoozefest.

Right. Every man hates what he has to deny.

So my wife and I started watching Boots on Netflix. It's one of those word of mouth Netflix surprise hits, now #3 in their top streamers. It's based on a book by a gay Marine who served from 1979-86. He signs up because his best friend is also signing up and he just wants to get away from his dysfunctional family. They've moved the setting to 1990, not coincidentally because that's just before Clinton's don't ask/don't tell policy. A few episodes in, it's pretty entertaining. The gay thing is actually pretty minor as far as the storyline goes, lurking in the background. It's more a fish out of water tale of a nerdy kid trying to navigate his way through the rigors of Marine boot camp. And there's some legit funny moments. Not preachy in any way other than the kid worrying about his true gay identity being revealed. I'm at the point where the kid is grudgingly coming to terms with the idea that their treatment by an ultra-aggressive drill sgt is starting to build a kind of esprit de corps. The kind of thing about how breaking young men down in order to build them up allows them to serve together despite the radical differences in their backgrounds, etc. In other words, not an anti-military or anti-Marine screed. If that's what it was, I'd have stopped watching because it would have been boring. I actually think that in a weird way the show could help recruitment efforts. So someone thought to ask the Pentagon to comment on it. And surprisingly they did, with a jarringly over-the-top comment: “Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, the U.S. military is getting back to restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man, a woman, gay, or straight. We will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children.” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/pentagon-criticism-netflix-boots-1236403902/ Huh? "Woke garbage?" The show has absolutely nothing to do with trans things or applying gender-specific physical standards. And it's about the Marine Corps c. three and a half decades ago, enforcing a policy that no longer exists. Even under Trump, I would have expected something like this: "The show portrays process of building an elite fighting force, and we applaud the gains we've made in the last three decades that allow patriotic gay men and women to serve their country with honor." Something like that. Because, after all, Trump hasn't tried to reverse changes in policy allowing gay men and women to serve openly, and I've been told here on multiple occasions that this administration has nothing against gays, but only against the trans agenda or the feminist agenda that would lower standards for women in the military. So I must conclude that yes, they still hate the gays. At least openly hate the gays, because as we've seen there are lots of them who are Republicans and there have always been lots of them in the military. I see nothing else that could explain this completely unhinged comment.

So ... what explains the weird commutation of George Santos' sentence? It has been said that there are no coincidences in politics. Timing is everything. Maybe I should double-post this in the Closeted Gay Republicans thread. What might George know, and what explains his sudden meteoric rise from run of the mill gay con artist to Republican nominee for Congress? Santos, who has been a regular member of The New York Young Republican Club since at least 2019, donated $3,750 to it through his campaign committee between 2020 and 2021, according to FEC filings. He hired the group’s executive secretary, Viswanag Burra, as the congressman’s operations director — a senior role in the congressman’s Washington, D.C. office. And as scrutiny of Santos has intensified, he’s reached out to others at the club. The club’s president, Gavin Wax, who, per FEC records, gave $500 to Santos’ joint fundraising committee in September, told POLITICO that the congressman called him last weekend. “He didn’t say much beyond how stressed he is and asking me how I’ve been,” Wax said. “I think he just wanted to speak to someone.” But like others in conservative circles, even The New York Young Republican Club is distancing itself from Santos amid revelations that he fabricated numerous parts of his résumé, including false claims that he attended New York University and worked for Goldman Sachs. Santos has admitted that he has embellished his biography, but he has argued that others in politics have done the same. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/20/santos-far-right-seeking-distance-00078791

So maybe Argentina isn't a new economic powerhouse of unbridled freedom and prosperity yet. Krugman's Substack provides the best explanation of where we are. And yes, I am hoping Milei succeeds. But what to make of the U.S. essentially handing him a $20 billion unsecured loan to bridge the gap, if indeed it is bridgeable? Is that "America First," or is it billionaire bond traders first? https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/talking-with-maurice-obstfeld Bessent can come in with $20 billion or $40 billion, and that might delay the day of reckoning, but if you look at what Argentina owes, they owe about $8 billion just until January. They owe the IMF almost $50 billion. They have other foreign obligations. They need to earn foreign exchange reserves and just to do that, they have to convince private markets to lend their money, which is going to be very hard. So at some level, it’s sort of a slow drip to insolvency and maybe the US can delay it, but to really put them on a firm footing, I think the US really has to be willing to do whatever it takes for an extended period and just pay their bills. I don’t think the political process in the US can tolerate that. We can talk about what the politics are in the U.S, but even if you look at the statement President Trump made standing with Milei in the Oval Office the other day, he said, “well, we’ll support you as long as you’re doing well,” and Bessent tried to walk that back very quickly. But that’s not the kind of thing that will convince markets that the US is “in it till they win it.” Bessent justifies the extraordinary deal by referring to Argentina as a "systemically important ally." The Financial Times deadpan response: this is "news to many." And how does slapping a tariff on Argentina and then kicking them back $20 billion fit in with that? Answer: it doesn't. It is incoherent and counterproductive. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Donald Trump 2.0. https://abovethelaw.com/2025/10/us-taxpayers-bail-out-argentinas-bank-as-trumps-tariffs-help-it-steal-american-farmers-largest-market/

I don't think I've ever seen an older looking player than Aaron Rodgers with his helmet on. Maybe George Blanda when I was a kid?

Leadership! "Closely tracking" Thank you!

Already posted. ZVA (Zero Value Added)

Pittsburgh kind of scares me with Rodgers looking like the 39 year old Rodgers. So ... go Bengals?

You need to learn. A well-placed Clappy emoji or an emphatic "Me too" adds rhetorical oomph. How will I know whether you approve or disapprove of our gerontocracy? Someone was just celebrating Clarence Thomas's birthday. Is that good or bad?

/ / / / / / / / / / Still got his Old Man Crush on Svetlana! https://inteltoday.org/2017/04/02/flynngate-the-mysterious-svetlana-lokhova/ Natasha Fatale lives!

Is he in VA? I thought it was Asheville. Maybe I'll stop in Rehoboth Beach too to see the Real Joe. Can I build in the Research Triangle too? I will wave to the passing biological supply salesman on his route.

You've been ratio'd!

https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/virginia-wine-petit-verdot-petit-manseng/?srsltid=AfmBOorHPRbVx7fqjgRbjiWyepinnCUKpqwVb6w0IaJSzRw7ES1-2YxY

I don't think I've ever had a 100% Petit Verdot. Is that what it is? I will have to visit Central Virginia and check on this whole naval aviator/winemaker thing.

I would like to compliment you on that insightful comment to your cut-and-paste in the Fetterman 2.0 thread: "Me too." Original thought, where are you hiding?

Before the obsession with "narrative control" here, there was another similar obsession. As a grown-up, I didn't even know what it meant: Ratio'd. I looked it up. It means the ratio between likes:unlikes (or whatever they call it on Twitter; I don't have a Twitter account) to a post. So the same people were all excited when, say, a Kamala campaign post had 3:1 negative reaction. The rest of us were perplexed. I mean, does that tell me anything other than "new" Twitter/X has 3 times more right-wing than left wing subscribers? Or more accurately, 3 times more politics obsessed right-wingers than regular people? No. It doesn't tell me anything other than that. Why would a grown man (and they are all nominally men) care about this nothing statistic? Do the same people care if a poll shows the Dallas Cowboys have 3 times more self-identified "fans" than the Buffalo Bills? Are these the people who scream their heads off when some pathetic old nostalgia act says "Now right side only ... who's ready to rock and roll tonight!" Are they thrilled if their side is a touch louder? Yes. Yes they are. But such is the immaturity of the Trumpist. And it flows straight from the immaturity of that 79 year old who reposts ret@rded (he said that word is now in vogue again!) internet memes. Ratio me!! Use that little pukey emoji. I'll be crushed.

Now that's some narrative control at work.

REMINDER (isn't that how B-Man Bot personalized his twitter feed?):

YOU ARE NOW UNDER MY NARRATIVE CONTROL. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

Hey, buddy, I just did a little public demonstration of how stupid this "narrative control" thing is. You are not likely to see me competing with the more frenetic posters, not here and not on the football side. In fact, I'm a very reluctant OP creator. What I was trying to point out is the utter pointlessness of simply cutting and pasting someone else's tweet. Really, if I want that Twitter feed, Twitter's algorithm is really good at providing that. If it's actual breaking news, well, fine. That's kind of the Yolo role over on the football side. But I see zero value (actually negative annoyance value) in reposting a tweet or blog commentary by some other (generally unknown) person, without any meaningful additional comment (i don't mean a clappy hands emoji) of one's own.

I now have complete narrative control. haha

Not about to let you guys reassume Narrative Control. My Bot is bigger than your Bot! (Clappy hands emoji)

The Clappy Hands emoji is adding value! By the way, I am sooooo burned up about that image of an old grandfather bragging about himself while driving his granddaughter around a golf course. Wow. If only my people could do that.