Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Some Italian cookies with those harsh words?



   
 
     Having written yesterday on the president's treasonous neglect of our country's defense, the only thing to do today is share the sputtering outrage of his supporters, who of course defend him contrary to all reason. It really defies belief. But don't trust me. Here's one, from Randy Stefani:

Hey Neil. So President Trump is shirking his responsibility because he has not done anything in five or six days since some indictments went out. Two things. First none of those charged are guilty of anything until proved in court. What about President Obama who found out in August of 2016 that the Russians were up to games. During his last five or six months he did NOTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!!! Not five or six days but FIVE OR SIX MONTHS!!!!!! I saw a one time mention of this in liberal news and most certainly was not pressed on. Where was your article on this calling out PRESIDENT OBAMA? Or the article you wrote denouncing Obama's big two lies to the American people about his health care plan? There is an old saying. Once a liar always a liar. Obama and ALL POL"S AT EVERY LEVEL LIE ALL THE TIME. Can't believe anything any of them have to say for this reason. Their track record for any of them to tell the truth is as poor as can be. I guess Obama did not want to upset his buddy Putin. You know how he told Putin how he can do what he wants after he is elected again. The hot mic that caught him saying that. How Obama laughed at Romney at their debate in 2012 when Romney said Russia was our enemy. I watched Obama laugh out loud and say something about Romney taking us back to the 1980's. All liberals were laughing at Romney for that. Guess he was a whole lot smarter than the liberals and Obama were. BUT BOTTOM LINE. OBAMA KNEW FOR FIVE TO SIX MONTHS ABOUT RUSSIA TRYING TO PLAY GAMES AND DID NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! If President Trump is shirking his duty for not doing anything in five or six days what does that make President Obama? I will be looking for that article coming out soon........
     Can't make that up, can you? To demonstrate he isn't some odd outlier, let's grab another, this one from Steve Pearse:
Are you bipolar or just so liberal that you will write anything to advance their cause ?? Your column on Monday accusing the president of not protecting us against foreign enemies is so ridiculously slanted that it confirms to me that there does exist "fake news".
Trump is trying desperately to protect us from foreign enemies but you liberals challenge his every move in court. You scream at the top of your lungs that there is no threat coming through our borders or from immigration. You advocate open borders and no checks on immigration and subsequently write of treason by Trump when in actuality it should be Obama ( if anyone )who should be tried for treason for not recognizing the Russian threat nor acting on it. You have convinced me that if Hillary had been elected there would be no stories about Russian collusion. You are a propaganda monger who uses SELECTIVE facts while ignoring any facts contrary to your agenda !! It is journalists like you that precipitate the term "fake news". There are two sides to every story - TRY REPORTING BOTH !!!!!
     There, that'll do. I think you get the idea. Multiply those by a few dozen and you'll see why Monday, well, felt quite dreary, despite the warm weather. Sad that Trump exists; sadder still the people who created and maintain him. 
     Still, I don't want to just dump you where I was and leave you there.
     So Italians cookies. From Pasticceria Forno Bruschi Ivana on the Via dell'Ariento in Florence. I don't know if it's the best bakery, but it's the one by the train station where I popped into last April to set in a store of provisions for our rail trip to Venice.
     I would direct your attention to the chocolate swirls. Not too sweet, but freshly baked and firm, a little dry, the perfect thing to go with your take-out coffee.
     A reminder that as bleak as our political landscape is, there is always some good, if only a good thing to eat, somewhere. So don't divide your attention simply between our increasingly-unhinged president, whose tweetstorm over the long weekend was crazed, even by his standards, blaming the Parkland slaughter on the FBI, and his foaming followers, who seem to think that if they sputter and insult enough people will ignore their being a party to treason. As if abuse were persuasion. Remember to get your hands on the best baked goods you can, or at least cling to the memory of them. Nourish yourself, body and soul, to resist the ruin of our country. Better times in the past, better times ahead.




16 comments:

  1. Excellent advice, Neil. Just yesterday I was thinking that these Trump years are a virus that our country is battling. We'll be stronger for having gone through it. Look at those kids in Florida, leading the charge against the establishment. Their courage is inspiring; their resilience, impenetrable. Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is once again relevant. There's hope. It's exciting. I love it! We're going to need to keep our strength up. Mangiare!

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    1. I'm encouraged and impressed by the Florida students, as well, but am certainly not as optimistic as you are, Tony. I'll "love it" if we ever get to the point where we can look back at this time period as an incongruity in the long arc of the moral universe bending toward justice. As for now, all I can say is that Gerald Ford was *way* premature when he famously proclaimed that "our long national nightmare is over."

      The most remarkable thing about the first guy's ridiculous diatribe is the way he blames Obama for not doing anything in 2016 on one hand, yet then concludes that Il Douche has had only "five or six days" to respond to this matter. Uh, that's kinda inconsistent there, chap! What's *he* been doing since 2016, other than lying about every inconvenient fact he's confronted with and barking "Fake news!?"

      Of course, arguing with a committed Trump supporter is a bit like arguing with an athletic supporter, and just as worthwhile.

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    2. "long ark"? You can keep your eye on the destination, if you like, but it's the journey that excites me. Utopia, by definition, is unattainable.

      Delete
  2. There is no talking reason to his followers. And you have good taste in cookies.

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  3. I love Randy and Steve's use of allcaps. Yes, geniuses, say it louder and we'll agree with you. That's the key to a good argument.

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  4. I suppose it's not worth bothering to point out that Obama did in fact confront Putin about Russian meddling before the election, and that if he had taken any higher-profile action, people like your correspondents would have screamed to high heaven that he was trying to influence the election himself by making nefarious unfounded accusations etc. These people are nothing if not predictable.

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    1. A good discussion by Greg Sargent in today's Washington Post of Obama's alleged inaction. It seems key committees in both houses were briefed by members of the Obama administration on what the Russians were up to, but no proposed legislation ensued. Specifically, Senator McConnell was asked to act and refused.

      Tom

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  5. There are a few things that stick out in the nasty letters received by Neil: 1. the Trumpites are victims, no matter how much power they hold at any moment; 2. they go to great lengths to make simple statement; 3. they cannot resist gratuitous invective; 4. nor the use of all caps.

    A hefty chunk of plain Italian bread would go great this morning with my coffee.

    john

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    1. I had an aunt, a large lady with a somewhat operatic voice, who felt that one could communicate with foreigners by speaking English slowly, very clearly and loudly. Were she still with us and using Email, I'm sure she would often resort to all caps.

      Plain Italian bread in Tuscany goes better with dinner as it has no salt, and is used by the locals for "fare la scarpetta," to make the little shoe that walks around the plate soaking up the remaining sauce. However, breakfast rolls like the ones Neil bought at the little shop near the railroad station go great with coffee.

      Tom







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  6. I didn't take pictures but in my mind's eye, I go back often to the little boulangerie around the corner from my hotel in Paris. They are called mental health breaks.

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  7. Toni Galati, yes! You brought up the one thing in this past horrible week of news that brought hope and made me smile. The children of Florida demanding that something be done. Stating "We call B.S.", then other young people joining in. Articulately. Intelligently. Respectfully. These bright, young things, showing the adults how it is done.

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    1. Those kids are frightened and angry. I love their "fuck-you" attitude. I was in highschool from 68 to 72. All of us boys thought we'd end up in Vietnam so I have an inkling of what their emotions are. I'm looking forward to the day when they can all vote.

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    2. And of course the Trumpies are already saying that's impossible, no high-school kids are that bright and engaged, they're obviously tools of the Democrat Deep State, etc. They're even going after the kid who had the presence of mind to get statements from his classmates while they were hiding, because his father was an FBI agent so that proves derp derp.

      Delete
  8. Your problem, Neil, is that you continue reading these letters beyond the point at which the writers have disqualified themselves as reasonable correspondents. The first one I would hit delete/block at "What about President Obama..." The second one at "Are you bipolar or ...."

    Though give than you mined these letters for material I suppose it's OK. This time. But come on, delete, block, mute, banish!

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  9. As regards Russia, while security agencies think Russia tried to interfere with the elections there is no proof that while they tried to do so that it had any affect on the vote itself. Trump is certainly unfit to be president. For you the two people who emailed they should read the Making of Donald Trump by David Cay Johnston. He is pretty sure if we saw his taxes that he is a tax cheat. If not ties to the Russian government he does have ties to Russian oligarchs. And while he doesn't have proof it is probably believable that he was involved in money laundering. He was involved in a sales tax scheme which is on the record. Plenty of other stuff in his book that if people had read it, he might not be president. From an interview I listened to. Trump is dangerous in the sense that I think he is animating a kind of a notion of American citizenship, and native-born status and racial status as somehow either the equivalent of an entitlement to rule others, or is something that has been dispossessed and therefore we need to reclaim it. You know, and I think that’s a scary gambit. Right? https://theintercept.com/2018/02/17/bonus-intercepted-podcast-the-laundering-of-american-empire/ This part about Trump came at the end of the interview. The rest is pretty interesting. The transcript is there if you care to read. I thought it was a good interview.

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  10. I find the letters from Trump supporters that Neil shared to be deplorable. His courtesy to the authors is admirable. I have a Stanford-educated brother who throws in little digs (“they were honest back then, unlike the FBI...”) and I want to curse or slam down the phone. The Florida high school kids are an inspiration. I hope they maintain their determination: anger and grief are great motivators.

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