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Right Angle: Backstage 10/03/23

It’s a one-hour surprizalooza

Bill was a little under the weather when we recorded this segment, and since Bill is writing this episode description Bill realized too late that he forgot to takes notes. So it’s a one-hour surpisalooza!

40 replies on “Right Angle: Backstage 10/03/23”

Scott, it sure would be nice if you would share by some means, the name of the product you are using on the beard. I have been using some popular (?) beard oil and am not quite satisfied so I would like to have a recommendation. Thanks

He’s definitely not engaged in the conversations. I know what the feels like during some work calls and I just can’t focus due to other things going on.

please, please, somehow with all the technology you all have at your disposal, you must find a way to stop the talking over each other during this an subsequent backstage episodes. I know from using my cell phone that there probably is a little bit of a delay in the communication, but surely you all are much smarter than I am and I would just love to be able to hear all the comments that each one has to input on these subjects but can’t because of the stepping on each other’s mikes.

Once more reminded the guys don’t know what time it is. It’s not 1939. And the enemy is not across the ocean. They are here. They are in Washington, DC. Ukraine is another in a train of endless wars whose main purpose seems to be to distract us from what they are doing to us here. Good grief.

Once more, and as happens all too often, a consumer of political punditry thinks he knows more and better than the people who have devoted their lives to the topic through decades of study and scrutiny. Who know enough about these things to actually make a living from this.

Who may on occasion be wrong but they’re never that wrong and if you can present a case showing they’re wrong will admit it. Then modify their position accordingly. They may not be the final authority but here they’re a much more legitimate authority than YOU.

None of those things likely apply to you. Because you don’t listen and learn. You think your meager knowledge is sufficient to put you past the point of needing to absorb valid information from others.

You don’t make a case, you don’t present any argument, you just sling ad hominems about our hosts being caught in 1939 or some such crap. Just like our political foes you spew absurd generalities as though they were obvious immutable truths then look down your nose at anyone who doesn’t make the case you think they should. Which means your vision ends at the tip of your nose, btw.

Because hey, you’re so astute with this stuff you don’t even seem to understand that we have more than a single existential enemy. Anyone who doesn’t concentrate all their attention on the enemy you prefer must therefore be wrong.

“Ukraine is another in a train of endless wars whose main purpose seems to be to distract us from what they are doing to us here.”

No, Ukraine is an invasion of a sovereign nation by another. The invader also just happens to be a sworn, declared enemy of The West. Which like it or not includes you and your progeny too. While our enemies in Washington D.C. are certainly taking advantage of that war for their own gains, they didn’t make Russia invade Ukraine just so they can pull the wool over the eyes of the likes of you. If you’re “distracted” magically somehow by this, that’s a personal problem.

I promise you sincerely that there are many of us who are not distracted one bit. In fact, the very idea that something like this could provide an effective distraction could only ever work on people who WANT to be “distracted”. Which makes the whole idea moot.

People who notice they can’t buy as much quality food as previously are not distracted.

People who have lost money on investments as the market wobbles downward are not distracted.

People who notice the difference in prices as they stand at a gas pump are not distracted.

Etc. I could name a lot more people who’re not distracted and when applied across our society it’s an awful lot of people. By oversimplifying and attempting to deflect from and trivialize a freakin’ land war in Europe — A land war that has drastic implications for us and our allies and is about as serious as it gets — You’re a prime example of why Republicans lose more than they win. It’s not a “distraction”, if you know anything about history you’d know that too. We’ve seen this movie before. If anything you’re the one who’s trying to distract people. The attempt is failing. As it should.

I’m not saying we don’t have enemies in Washington D.C. and that they’re handling the Ukrainian problem well or that we don’t need to concern ourselves about them. I’m saying your little ad hominem attack demonstrates your very limited grasp of the larger picture. And unlike you I’ll back that position up with further argument if need be.

You could have made whatever point you wanted to make without attacking anyone, let alone attacking your betters. Being as you chose to do that you have no complaint when you’re attacked back so suck it up, Buttercup.

Good grief indeed.

Scott reminded me of a time when I was about 5 years old.
I was volunteered to say grace over a dinner at our neighbors home.

I overheard my father say this before dinner one time and it was all I could think of to say.

“Good bread, good meat, good God let’s eat”

Dead silence from everyone at the table until the neighbor’s boy cracked up.
His father gave him an angry look that shut him up and we all started eating in silence.
My parents never brought up the matter afterward.

The counter narrative exists if one looks for it. Consider the recent reporting on theepochtime.com site. Multiple interviews and reports have been posted to explain th rationale of those who voted to oust McCarthy.
McCarthy is a liar who has repeatedly violated agreements made to gain the Speakership after those FIFTEEN votes! Is that who you really want as Speaker?
Perhaps we need a Congress that accomplishes and spends nothing for awhile, because the country is rapidly dissolving into anarchy and uncontrollable indebtedness. Is it a risky political move? Yup. Is it the right thing to no longer support a mealy-mouthed Democrat-claiming-to-be-Republican as Speaker? Yup. Doing the right thing is often very risky, which requires courage.

Neither Viet Nam or Korea involved direct hits against Russia or China. They were proxies for both sides. This is NOT. Ukraine, via US and NATO weaponry is making DIRECT strikes into Russia. What would we do with Russian weapons making direct hits on US soil in a skirmish with Mexico?

Not really a fair comparison since we were involved in what amounted to civil wars half a world away, while Russia invaded a neighbor. Also, the mujahadeen (whom we supplied) made the occasional cross-border raid into the USSR without getting panties into such twists. The fact is that Russia started the first major land war in Europe since WWII. This war isn’t in some Third World backwater. This is Europe. It matters in ways the others don’t.
P.S. China IS hitting us from Mexico, using fentanyl.

Are we the biggest dollar value contributor to the effort? Or are we a much smaller contributor compared to the combined efforts of all of Europe? Aside from sending dollars in the form of Arms, Munitions and …dollars, can you suggest another way to really put the hurt on Putin which Presidentish Biden is not doing now? And no, I’m not suggesting blowing him up and kicking off world war last.
Sure is nice to see you in here in the comments section, educational and refreshing.

Over the summer, Europe overtook the US in the dollar value of aid given to Ukraine.

Thanks for the response. In your opinion!, would opening up the spigot of domestic oil, dropping global oil pricing hurt putin?

If crude oil is trading at $75 a barrel or less, Russia loses money on oil. Not natural gas, just oil. They’re two different things completely. Russia’s natural gas industry is dying on the vine due to sanctions but Russia has found some creative ways to get around sanctions when it comes to oil. This is a problem as long as the oil market remains over $75 a barrel or Russia is able to sidestep the sanctions when the price is higher.

So yes, anything that drops the price-per-barrel of crude oil is detrimental to the fiat Russian economy.

During the Trump era the price was at or below that threshold. Biden’s Administration pinched off the flow of oil from the U.S. almost immediately and today the price-per-barrel is hovering around $90. This is why after Biden took over the price at the pump skyrocketed and Russia thought it could afford to seize Ukraine. Turns out that thanks to Biden and the unelected committee that pulls his strings Russia was right in that assessment.

It’s about time that Europe started shouldering a degree of responsibility commensurate with their own interests when it comes to keeping the Russian Bear behind his own fences.

The thing is, if Europe is doing that then Conservatives in America need to re-evaluate their essentially pro-Russian position. Clearly Europe understands the real threat, they’re not spending that kind of money for their own amusement.

Russia did not magically reform itself into a modern Western style nation with the fall of the Soviet Union. If anything it got even worse, not better, in that regard.

On the scale of things to be concerned about Ukraine’s internal political problems are a 1. Russian expansionism is an 8 out of ten. Yet so many on our side prioritize Ukrainian issues over the much larger and far more dangerous issue of Russian aggression.

It surprises the hell out of me that more American Conservatives can’t see that. The only explanation I can see is purely reactionary. If Trump were POTUS and the same things were happening those pseudo-Conservatives would be all for smashing Russian ambitions for territorial theft.

All of that said, if Trump were POTUS today the Ukrainian invasion probably wouldn’t have happened. That’s a separate topic that falls under the “if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas” category. Trump not being POTUS and the terrible manner in which the Biden Administration is handling this crisis are a whole ‘nother critter.

Which brings us to a major failure on our side. Getting Conservatives to agree on anything is like herding cats. As long as our people keep doing this and the Democrat Left continues to act as a bloc we’re not going to win anything. If we don’t win we can’t make any changes.

You’d think Conservatives would understand that it’s “Win first, make changes afterwards” but … No.

Thank you, for both comments. For me, it’s always worth reading and taking the time to consider multiple aspects. I learn a lot here at BWDC. (nothing naughty in that acronym)
Being lazy here, and I’m sure with a few mouse clicks I can find it, but Steve Green’s comment about Europe overtaking the US in dollars contributed to Ukraine was an answer but left some more questions. Overtook present spending, as in month to month? or Overtook Every Dollar US has contributed to Ukraine since Biden took office? Or overtook all of that, and all the funding we’d contributed from today back to the Obama presidency when Crazy uncle Joe was the ‘point man’ in Ukraine?
For all the billions, is there any accountability as to where the money’s going?
Eh, who cares, right? Billions here, billions there. I think about it every April. Oh, and, every time I fill up my tank at the evil gas station. Or purchase anything which had to be transported or use energy to be produced…

I don’t know about the spending thing. I wasn’t aware of that until I read Steve’s comment.

The accountability thing is worrisome. There’s been some lapses and gaps in confirming for certain where our tax money is going. Seems to me that it wouldn’t be hard with the chaos of war going on for Zelensky, Biden and others to be stuffing their pockets at a mad rate. Considering what we already know about Biden and his grift in Ukraine this is very, very concerning.

If we catch anyone doing that we absolutely should prosecute them, whoever they are.

Then being as that money is for warfighting and war materials we should consider turning them over to the Ukrainian military for court martial and execution. Stealing war funds is a big deal and the bigger the theft the bigger the impact on the war effort.

Sorry, but if Gaetz didn’t stand up to McCarthy’s deal cutting, when the F do we make a dent in ending the spending spree?? Either you pick a point and stand up and say NO MORE, or you just continue laying down for the democrat/media game.

All the things Scott is saying about Gaetz not having a plan and waiting until the last second is exactly why Gaetz went after McCarthy. The deal, back in Feb., to get the Freedom Caucus votes was we were NOT going to wait and do yet another CR or Omnibus bill. Gaetz is right, McCarthy pushed them into another spending corner.

100% totally disagree with your assessment of Matt Gaetz helping to dispose if McCarthy…. McCarthy is a RINO and a democrat in disguise….so glad he is out of his position….Mccarthy says one thing and does another…what about all the promises he made….release J6 videos….nothing released. ….the budget is absurd ….cant just keep spending money….McCarthy agreed to the Biden plan….disgusting indeed …just hopefully we can get a non RINO as the next speaker..and i think Jordan is not a good pick just Another Rino that talks a good game but was trained by Gowdy. All talk no action

Stephen, You’re praising Gaetz for the concessions he got back in February – but the reason he called to oust McCarthy was because McCarthy didn’t stick with those concessions.

I agree 100%. If McCarthy had kept his end of the bargin, then none of this would have happened. Or if McCarthy had worked with that caucus to provide some other nugget as a temporary measure, none of this would have happened. McC did the despised “business as usual” CR, and it cost him. Boo hoo.
I’m reminded of the democratic senator, Manchin. He is also a pain to his party at times, but he does gets concessions – he sticks to his guns. A few republicans stick to their guns, and guys like Bill / Steve / Scott turn on them. How disappointing. The old trope of “that’s not who we are”, blah blah blah.
I’ll take a rep who fights. You can keep the decorum rubber stamps.

What you say is true, no doubt about it. But was it the right call to depose McCarthy because of it? That remains to be seen.

Maybe if we had not lost so many winnable elections last cycle and had a large majority we could be a bully and pass laws we conservatives could live with. But we screwed up with bad candidates and drew out the single female vote by threatening abortion, the only platform the Dems have that stirs up voter participation. I hate abortion, but the way to go about it is through the courts like President Trump managed to do. McCarthy was way better than I had hoped, I thought he was a squish, but he didn’t completely suck. Firing him with nobody on the docket to replace him was STUPID. We barely have a majority and the Dems never break ranks.

“Maybe if we had not lost so many winnable elections last cycle … But we screwed up with bad candidates …”

As I hope you’re aware, your boy Donald Trump had no small part in that failure. One of the most glaring but by no means only example was endorsing Mehmet Oz.

Pennsylvanians decided that they so badly did NOT want Oz they put a braindead stroked out weirdo slob in the Senate named Fetterman rather than Oz. Trump couldn’t have done worse had he endorsed Fetterman himself. Basically Donald Trump put Fetterman in the Senate.

Trump endorsed other weak candidates too, one of them in your state. Despite some fantastic campaigning on his behalf Herschel Walker just wasn’t a solid enough candidate to unseat Warnock.

Weak candidates, all of them endorsed by Trump, cost between two and four seats in the Senate that should not have been lost. If Trump is so concerned about America this is a damned funny way to show it.

To be fair, Trump does what he thinks is best. To also be fair what Trump thinks best is often what’s best for Trump’s ego.

Oh, I know all the rationalized excuses about why Donald Trump could not possibly be at fault in this so spare me. Excuses are like … (You know the saying, it pertains to proctology).

If you’re going to have a chance at winning you have to do everything you can to win. Pushing weak virgin candidates in the mistaken belief he’s a king maker was a counterproductive thing for Trump to do.

Had he not done that, we would probably have a majority in the Senate right now and that’s some damned serious consequences.

I’m of two minds on this matter.

On the one hand, if we don’t start seeing our elected Republicans stand up to the “Democrat Light” forces on the Right, we’re never going to get anywhere. I got disgusted decades back and stopped referring to myself as a Republican. I’m a Conservative and sadly while it should that label does not apply to all Republicans.

On the other hand, Kevin McCarthy was arguably the most Conservative Republican Speaker of the House in decades. That’s no small thing in itself. It’s not a matter of what McCarthy would like to do, it’s a matter of what he’s able to do in the way of herding Republican cats.

Time will tell but I fear this is yet another example of Republicans cutting off their own noses to spite their own faces. Which they do with frightening regularity. I hope I’m wrong but I think there’s a solid chance it’s going to pan out that way.

I heard that the acting Republican Speaker — Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) — that is now running things told Nancy Pelosi to clear her crap out of the Speaker’s office and vacate it immediately. Apparently she’s been in that office all along despite no longer being Speaker. Kevin McCarthy should have done that immediately when he picked up the gavel.

Crap like that is very bad optics for McCarthy. It makes him look weak and conciliatory to have an ousted Speaker operating out of his office. Expecting Nancy Pelosi to just do the right thing is like expecting a dog not to gobble down a dropped hamburger.

Republicans make a lot of lame, stupid, empty gestures but telling Nancy to pack her trash and hit the road would not have been one of them.

Bill looks like I felt on Sunday. Slept most of the day. Still not right four days later.
As Keith points out, lots of stuff out there that we have not been exposed to as much in the past few years.
Illness going through offices and schools like crazy.

Gentlemen….now is not the time to return to shoving one’s finger up one’s nose. Ladies, now is the time to prevent Gentlemen from picking their noses! Everyone, cover your sneezes with the crook of your elbow or hands whenever possible. Wash your hands immediately thereafter. If you’re sick, or feeling like you’re getting ill, stay home.
There. My PSA for the day. Oh, and no ineffective masks.

WhiIe agree that Gaetz’s approach felt a bit like ready/fire/aim, there was a damned good reason. Part of what got McCarthy elected was actually having real votes on parts of the budget as opposed to these last minutes monstrosities. MCa sent everyone home for a few weeks instead of doing their damned jobs and Gaetz held him accountable. Are the Dems a bigger problem? Yes. Are we going to stop them with half of the party just focused on getting their beaks wet alongside the Dems? No. Accountability is a start

What happened to McCarthy is another in a long list of STUPID that defines the Republicans. Circular firing squads are the domain of our representatives fighting the Left. They’re like Lucy with the football, yanking it away when Charlie Brown sets up to kick, telling us all we want to hear up until they’re elected and then doing everything they can to sabotage effective governance.

Seeing Bill sick reminded me of an article I wrote in American Thinker about the “Immunity Debt”. When schools were shut down and going to work was discouraged and masks were used it delayed our exposures to viruses and bacterias. The consequence of this is that while we are not incrementally getting exposed and strengthening our immunity, these pathogens are still mutating. As a result, we caught an especially virulent RSV out of season the August after the February we usually would have been exposed. Same with many other viruses that mutated to more easily transmissible and sore virulent strains. Another “gift” from our governments’ response to Covid.

Sorry Bill was feeling bad. It was really obvious. I presume the “talking over each other” issue is about the time lag from their disparate locations, so there may be nothing that can be done about it, but it is still distracting, even if it wasn’t as bad with really just two people doing most of the talking.

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