Thursday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, July 10, 2025
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103 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Trade wars go both ways. Countries can bully back.
How China’s new rare-earth export controls target the Pentagon—and the world
How do you square this circle?
https://reason.com/2025/07/09/the-trump-administration-says-its-speech-based-deportation-policy-does-not-exist/
So, there’s no deportation policy regarding anti-Semitic speech, but if there were it would be legal.
The way Grok has fully embraced antisemitism, I see some complications going forward.
Of course, a left wing Palestinian sympathizer is automatically branded an antisemite, while self proclaimed nazis are examples of “good people on both sides”.
@Scott:
It’s just a flesh wound.
We’re in a trade war where we play the part of the Black Knight.
Since this came up yesterday and I won’t be able to write about it today, here is the actual report on the CIA Russian/Trump investigation.
I suggest you read it for yourself. It’s just 8 pages and very easy to follow (especially if you enjoy LaCarre novels):
https://www.cia.gov/static/Tradecraft-Review-2016-ICA-on-Election-Interference-062625.pdf
Here’s the most relevant conclusion from it:
The Atlantic also has a good analysis of it here. It is in no way the bomb that certain ultra partisan publications (and commenters) have made it out to be.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/archive/2025/07/cia-note-russia-hoax/683464/?gift=7p_RZdWglJI-SvpTrEW9xW1ixz5tD4t1yykD_Fc6EFg&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Trump has named Transportation Secy. Sean Duffy as interim head of NASA.
@becca: Would you be willing to watch an 8:16 video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Z67tPRdzU
@becca:
@Fortune: It’ll be 8:16 of your life that you’ll never get back.
I don’t know what the best word is to describe this actual official post from the Department of Homeland Security. Sadistic? Demented? Juvenile?
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/07/would-you-like-to-know-more-3
Eastern Michigan University is recruiting students from Ohio, offering in-state tuition if they’d like “freedom to grow,” and a doorway out of the GOP legislature’s effort to support Trump’s war on education:
Ohio’s GOP is determined to shoo away students, academics, and businesses that need educated employees.
After Trump’s babble at the Cabinet reality television show, an LGM commenter offered the perfect solution to the media’s refusal to notice Trump’s downward spiral:
Joe Biden should read transcripts of Trump speeches so reporters will talk about how clear the dementia is.
@Daryl: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.
@Fortune:
Not if the water has been poisoned.
At bare minimum, and this is being generous, you are asking that we see people who support slavery, and the South of Lee that fought to protect it, as fine people.
No. They are not.
Bill O’Reilly: Trump said ‘a lot of names associated with Epstein’ had nothing to do with his conduct“
I talked to President Trump, man to man, eye to eye, on St. Patrick’s Day about this… And he said — and I agree — ‘there are a lot of names associated with Epstein that had nothing to do with Epstein’s conduct,’”
1. My interpretation of this is that some of Trump’s buddies, and maybe Trump himself, are on the list.
2. This list will never see the light of day.
3. I think when it comes to a man-to-man conversation, they are two men short.
@Matt Bernius:
Thank you for linking to this.
In a far more eloquent manner it supports my assertion from yesterday about Ratcliffe.
@Scott: Speaking of trade wars and tariffs, now Trump is using his tariff power to conduct a kind of coercive political blackmail. Will Congress rein this in? Nah.
Trump sets 50% tariff rate for Brazil, blasting treatment of former far-right president
I find this more alarming than a lot of the BS Trump does.
@Matt Bernius: Notably, it is a tradecraft review. The entire purpose of the report is examining process decisions. Hardly a bombshell.
It does seem to have Ratcliffe’s fingerprints on it. The “rushed timeline” box completely ignores the fact that the purpose of the compressed timeline was to ensure that the report would be completed.
The report also seems to ignore that there are plenty of times when analysts are asked to turn around analysis quickly, although I will acknowledge that in those instances, there is typically a need to make a decision with operational urgency, which is not the case here.
@Fortune: No, I’m not going to watch the 8-minute video. But I am thoroughly familiar with the claim being made.
The basic argument is that the Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” remark was taken out of context and distorted what he said, because he specifically condemned neo-Nazis and white supremacists at the rally, and said he was only defending those present who were protesting the removal of Confederate statues.
The problem with this framing is that what Trump said is a lie. The Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was a white supremacist rally, full stop, not simply a rally with some white supremacists present. The main organizer was Jason Kessler, who said the following a couple of months earlier:
“The Alt-Right is a threat to the establishment. We’re talking about the people who run the media. We know there’s disproportionate Jewish influence—I’m not somebody who sees that that everywhere but I will call them out — they’re afraid of that. We’re talking about the fact that there are biological differences in race. We’ll talk about the fact that white people have a right to organize for their interests just like any other group does and that if we don’t do so we’re going to be replaced and there won’t be a future for our people.”
And here’s what he said about the counterprotester killed at the event: “Heather Heyer was a fat, disgusting Communist. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time.”
Other organizers to the rally included the Daily Stormer and a range of Klan groups.
Was there anyone present who would deny being neo-Nazi or white supremacist? Sure. There were some militia and neo-Confederate groups which do not explicitly identify as white nationalist. But even they were far more the exception than the rule, and anyone who chose to attend knew exactly who they were going to be marching alongside, because the main organizers made no secret of it. If your argument is that Trump wasn’t praising the white nationalists but merely those who willingly collaborated with them, that isn’t exactly a compelling defense.
Of course it’s true that Trump never explicitly stated, “neo-Nazis and white supremacists are very fine people.” What he did do was point to a white supremacist rally, falsely claim it included a significant presence of innocents who wanted nothing to do with white supremacists, then describe those objectively nonexistent individuals as very fine people.
It’s like the trope of the Nazi gang in prison that some white inmates join simply for protection. It’s still a Nazi gang. The same goes for Unite the Right, but with far less of an excuse.
I think I have established myself as a tariff skeptic; after all if someone wants to give me eighteen year old Oban in exchange for Treasury paper, I don’t feel screwed. Trump now proposes a 50% tariff on Brazil. Our actual trade balance with Brazil is actually positive. Trump states that he wants to punish them for conducting a witch hunt against Bolsonaro. I doubt that there are more than a handful of Americans who care about Bolsonaro or even know who he is or care about Brazilian internal politics. I think that this is intended as a shot across the bow of the BRICS attempt to dedollarize the world financial order. The cash and future prices of coffee are up; there are casualties in every war. Expect me to become (even) less coherent if coffee becomes more expensive.
I’m finally done with Richard Rhodes’ histories on the atomic and hydrogen bombs*, so I started How Not to Invest by Barry Ritholtz.
The gist of the book, as explained in the intro, is that good investment mostly means making as few mistakes as possible, rather than pursuing great opportunities (which are usually mistakes anyway).
The author begins with entertainment, with a long list of movies passed over, popular bands panned by critics, etc. Fair enough. But I’ve wondered how many movies were passed over by the major studios but got made anyway and bombed at the box office?
Take Star Wars. IMO this movie succeeded fue to the revolutionary special effects, both visual and audio (and visual here includes costumes and creatures). The latter never get much mention, but they are both brilliant and a huge part of the SW universe. Imagine if light sabers had been made to sound like steel swords.
How do you judge that from a written screenplay? Did lucas present sample visual and sound effects with his pitch? Or did he just describe what he planned to do? Had he even planned that far ahead?
I’d go into the debate that a popular, money-making movie is not necessarily a good movie, but that’s not really what a book on investment is about.
* I think it wasn’t a good idea to follow a long book on the A bomb with a long book on the H bomb.
@Scott:
President Lula da Silva replies with the diplomatic equivalent of “Go f@ck yourself.”
Digby has an interesting graphic. It shows how often SCOTUS granted the administration relief on emergency docket appeals of lower court injunctions. Biden, 0/21, Trump 66/86. The Federalist Society bought SCOTUS.
@Kathy:
Well, given that several major studios rejected it and lots of people expected it to fail at the box office, his pitch probably sounded pretty lame.
@JohnSF: At this point why be diplomatic?
@Kylopod: The Unite the Right rally was explicitly racist, but it wasn’t the only event going on at the time. There had been rallies and counter-rallies on both sides for months.
@Slugger:
Producer Price Index by Commodity: Processed Foods and Feeds: Coffee (Whole Bean, Ground, and Instant)
We drink a lot of coffee. Grocery store prices are up about $1/pound. Presumably due to Trumps taxes on us ordinary Americans.
@Fortune:
“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.”
Or, as Dorothy Parker said, you can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.
Notwithstanding the past decade of uncountable instances of Trump’s brain farts, bloopers, and increasingly diminished language, here’s a look at applying empiricism to Trump’s oration:
But on the plus side, Trump is very fluent in bigotry.
‘Very uncertain’: NH man denied reentry to U.S. after family trip to Canada (10 Boston)
Lol Chris shouldn’t’ve been eating the cats, eating the dogs, eating the pets.
More naked corruption before our very eyes. Trump is using the resources of the entire US government, we-the-taxpayers government, to pursue personal vendetta and self-serving interests. I suspect this will get even more brazen as his neurological status continues to decline. Plus, Repubs say goodbye to checks and balances.
@DK:
He should take consolation from knowing he is now personally Making America Great Again from afar. Later, I may consider sending these folks a thank you card.
@Scott:
Rare Earth – I’m Losing You
@Rob1:
It’s worth noting that the US runs a trade surplus with Brazil. They have specifically said that this is about political issues, which is in direct violation of the “emergency” powers he has declared.
@Rob1: In fairness to the Liberians, it’s not unreasonable for them to wonder. It’s hard to embrace the idea that a developed nation with the educational opportunities afforded Americans would elect the kind of complete doltish dotard Trump seems to be. Wondering why we’d elect an uncouth and gross bigot is as reasonable as any other conclusion.
@DK:
They either don’t know the meaning of “may” or they don’t know the meaning of “mandatory”
A lot of people are being subjected to far worse dates than being stuck in Canada, so I feel totally fine with just pointing and laughing.
I don’t know why… he’s not even one of their constituents.
@Rob1:
Trump’s infantile locutions are a big part of his appeal to the MAGAs. (Same reason they loved Sarah Palin.) He talks like a REAL AMERICAN!!!
@Matt Bernius:
This is very concerning [furrowed brow emoji]. Shouldn’t Congress or the courts or somebody be doing something about this?
@DK:
I guess he thought lying low for four years doesn’t apply to people like him.
@Rob1: It really shows what an amazingly incurious mind Trump has that he’s really into White Supremacy but he knows nothing about efforts to literally send the Blacks back to Africa.
He will sporadically pay lip service to the idea of Lincoln being a great man, but knows nothing of Lincoln’s efforts along this path.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_slavery#Colonization
In his Second Annual Message (December 1st, 1862) he proposed the following Constitutional Amendment:
There’s so much there for a White Supremacist to love, and yet Trump is completely unaware.
(Lincoln is an amazingly complicated figure, and his views on race are rapidly evolving during this time. It’s something that I think should be much more widely taught in schools, as it’s an incredibly positive and inspiring story — we (America, as well as individuals) can become greater than we are now.)
@Slugger:
I would suggest that Trump has very little interest (or accumen) in defending the current world financial order. Just look at the chaos he sows with tariffs, unevenhanded policies, cryptocurrency ploys, undermining longstanding foreign relationships.
No, his actions are bizarrely erratic and exceedingly shortsighted. Herky-jerking his way through his presidency at the twitch of a notion, a knee-jerk, a petty grudge, a self enrichment, a whispered bigotry in his ear. If anything, Trump may be unwittingly, half-wittingly, playing into BRICS aspirations. Albeit, the other lunatic on the other side of the world, Putin, has shot his ownself in the foot, hampering plans for financial revolution.
@Matt Bernius: Which provides proof that Trump’s tariff on Brazil is not motivated by economic strategy, but by personal petty self-justification.
Absolute loons.
News 9 radar damaged in apparent attack by anti-government militia group
Early this week, security video footage shows an individual damaging News 9’s NextGen Live Weather Radar, temporarily knocking it offline.
The Oklahoma City televison station reports Veterans on Patrol, which the Southern Poverty Law Center defines as an anti-government militia, is claiming responsibility and targeting other Oklahoma radars. Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the founder of Veterans On Patrol, told the station he posted a sign warning of other radars being targeted near weather radar. He said he believes the government is modifying the weather, according to the article.
“They can embed their technology and civilian infrastructure in every home and every household utilizing the phones and their network towers to not only control the weather, modify the weather, but they can (target) individuals,” Meyer said in the article.
@Fortune: I’m not clear on your point. Are you saying that the fact of other protests having gone on for months mitigates the explicit racism of Unite the Right?
@CSK: At some point in his nonsensical, long winded dronings, it is reasonable to believe the average Trump supporter stops listening to content (as evidenced by their own deficit on topics when questioned), but perhaps is hooked on the cadence and emotional tenor of Trumps rantings. I remember reading somewhere how exposure to long Orthodox religious chants induces a trance-like state. Could it be that Trump’s repetitive droning has the same effect on his cult members? Has he uncovered a “backdoor” to the mind of the voter?
@Fortune: At the time, I was open to the idea that Trump wasn’t talking about the Unite the Right people. I just couldn’t believe a president would be that ignorant or openly racist. So I did actually investigate the details, including viewpoints like your video represent. While I don’t remember everything now, and don’t care to refresh my memory, my conclusion was that it was, *at best*, very generous to Trump to pretend he didn’t know what he was doing. More likely, it was his typical wink-and-a-nod to racists everywhere. And he’s publicly continued that pattern for more than a decade now, it’s too hard to ignore. But that’s just my opinion.
@just nutha: fully explained on the other thread
Despite Texas’ officials fawning praise of the administration’s response to the flood disaster, FEMA’s response to Texas flood slowed by Noem’s cost controls (CNN):
and
You can add this to your “if Biden had done this, Republicans would have lost their sh*t” list.
@Rob1: It would be amusing if at Trump’s next news conference someone ask him to spell “Bolsonaro.”
@Jen: I would think that radicals bombing things would not be popular in OKC.
Terrorist organizations are simply going to have to upgrade their HR screening. Full stop.
@Jen:
Meanwhile some MAGA politician is seeking to address “chemtrails.” If they get traction for legislation for that, we’re all grounded. Those vapor trails aren’t going away.
Ironic that these nutters are concerned at this moment in time, given there are many photos of US bomber groups over Europe during WWII, eighty years ago with massive plumes of condensation from those propeller driven aircraft.
They just need to start their car on cold wintry day and step outside the vehicle to see a similar effect. And yet here we are, going all militant over contrails and weather modification. I’m not sure how largescale human civilization can survive this backslide into irrationality and elective ignorance.
The scene from Monty Python Holy Grail comes to mind — “She’s a witch!”
@Rob1: Lots of practices across many religions and secular self-help regimens are aimed at “emptying the conscious” of distractions to enhance awareness. It’s not unique.
And does make one more suggestible (for better or worse).
@Fortune: So yes, because “[t]here had been rallies and counter-rallies on both sides for months” is what I’m seeing here. Good to know.
ETA: Or if you want to go with yes because some oppo politicians have selectively quoted Trump, I’m okay with that, too
Ken Paxton’s wife has filed to divorce him on “Biblical grounds.”
@Jen: I had to look up who that was, because all those white men blur together for me, and one of the top Google news blurbs was from “The Hindustan Times.”
I’ve been seeing Google refer to them a lot lately. Is everyone else getting them, or has Google noted my interest in software engineering and decided I am Indian?
——
On the subject of unfounded assumptions and generalizations…
Way back when, when Twitter was a thing and I wanted to keep vaguely abreast of the software industry, I followed some of the tech folk, but as I grew tired of the TechBros, I refined the folks I follow until it was only queer folks and black folks.
On BlueSky, I followed a bunch of the more fun personalities, and I’m always surprised when a Black one mentions that they are an artist or something, because now I just assume all Black folks are in tech unless I know otherwise.
I find this very funny, and very illustrative of how quickly we see patterns and build expectations from them. I created my very own stereotype about Black people!
ETA: Representation matters, I guess.
@Jen:
Though shalt not commit adultery?
@just nutha: Not that. You know what I’m referring to.
@Rob1:
That’s an interesting idea. And speaking of chants, don’t they do a lot of chanting at Trump rallies? “Lock her up!”
@just nutha: I feel bad. I assumed you were trying to troll me, so I typed in the nonsense reply “fully explained on the other thread”. You were trying to troll me right?
@CSK: I’ve never heard a “lock her up” chant last for more than a minute or so. Leftists can chant for hours.
@CSK:
“Thou” seems to have been magically changed to “though.”
ETA: Did it again.
@Fortune:
Does the duration of chanting for your political opponent to be jailed without basis, matter?
And “leftists can chant for hours???” What are you snortin’ there fella?
@CSK:
If you don’t sin, then Jesús died for fuc**ng nothing.
On the Elon Musk front, it appears that Grok has been tweeked to do more than sound like Adolf. NSFW.
I would guess a disgruntled employee(s?) at X with access to Grok code has screwed Elon. But that could be either Trumpist who is angry about Elon’s treason against Trump or it could be someone who just hates Elon. Hopefully, they did a thorough job and it will be difficult to fix.
Elon, have you ever heard this one? “Friends come and go but enemies tend to accumulate.”
@Daryl: hey hey ho ho
@Jen: I have my doubts this will have any effect on the Christian nationalists that support Paxton over John Cornyn. I wish it would. On the other hand, while Cornyn is dead as a candidate among the Republicans, a Paxton candidacy gives hope (vainly, I believe) to a Democratic candidate. And Angela, even though she suffered in her marriage will probably support her adulterous, indicted felon of an ex-husband for Senator.
These are the type of people we have to live with.
@CSK: That’d be my guess. AFAIK, the only “biblical grounds” are infidelity and one or the other is/becomes a non-believer. But, it’s Texas so…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Scott: How would you define supporting your ex-husband? Does it include publicly divorcing him the year before he runs while accusing him of adultery?
@Kathy:
Yep, it was adultery, according to the Texas Tribune. His.
So Godly.
ETA: Ken Paxton is asking for “prayers and privacy.”
@Fortune:
No, that’s Tibetan monks, surely?
🙂
@CSK:
Isn’t a life of sin with a deathbed repentance a good angle?
@Fortune:
You don’t know much about Texas, do you?
She’ll say something along the lines of “He’s a liar and a cheat and I can’t be married to him but he’s not a Satan possessed Democrat so I’ll be voting for him.”
@Fortune: Yes, but that doesn’t make the question itself disingenuous. It’s still a good question regarding the statement about ongoing protests in the months prior.
Sometimes I engage in trying to encourage people to reassess their views in the same ways you claim to. I expect I’m about as successful, too.
But now that you’ve admitted your answer was nonsense, I get a point (for those keeping score), right?
@Fortune:
So you think calling for your political opponent to be jailed for no reason is acceptable for shorter durations? Is that correct? What would that time frame be, according to you?
@just nutha: You distorted what I was saying, deliberately, but it wasn’t disingenuous, ok.
@Jen: My reading is simpler, but far removed from present times. Men get divorces by putting a writ of divorcement into the hand of the wife in question. ETA: Grounds appeared to be “displeases him”– whatever that meant. Women can ask for such a writ but there’s no governmental entity to appeal to for such a writ so, from a Biblical perspective, she can’t sue for divorce at all.
Adultery would be grounds, but having married outside the faith, or spousal abandonment of said faith, is not grounds in any interpretations I can recall. There may be traditional/dogmatic elements that come into play, but non-conforming/free church types of the sort I come from don’t study that area.
ETA: “ETA: Ken Paxton is asking for ‘prayers and privacy.'”
I can imagine he is, yes.
@just nutha: Also it’s in the filing.
@Fortune: What does the “it” in this statement refer, too and how does it relate to what I was telling Jen about my study of the phrase “Biblical grounds?” (Which we all already understood to be part of the filing. Try to aim when you drive by with a single shot. There’s a reason gangstas use Uzis. 🙁 )
@just nutha: Don’t try to troll me twice in the same thread. You just admitted to it.
@Fortune: Why not? There’s an old saying about what to expect from leading with your chin. In this case, not a troll. I genuinely have no idea at all of what “it” refers to. In grammar, it’s called a “pronoun referent fault.”
Now, I’m due at PCC to help at an ESOL class, so y’all’ll have to carry on without me. Play nicely, boys and girls. 😀
@Fortune: You are so tiresome. It’s unfortunate the other commenters give you air to breathe. You should’ve been banned after you attacked Beth. I’m actually considering stopping my Patreon contribution to this site due to your continued presence and consistently de-railing even an Open Forum. Go find another bridge, troll.
All in favor of banning Fortune, say aye. I’d try to ban Connor/Jack/Drew/Guaneri, too, but we all know he’ll just come back under another name.
@Jax:
Aye
On things far more relevant than the cookie, A few months ago someone gave me a spice pouch, commercial brand and heat sealed aluminized pouch, for stir fry (allegedly). I was looking at the ingredient list, and noticed the best if used by date of 2021.
Now, I’m sure I’ve used spices older than that. Overall they don’t spoil, so as long as there’s no mold, or insects, or (visible) insect eggs, they should be fine. not to mention they’ll go on a hot wok for several minutes. If it were just spices, I’d chance it.
But there are preservatives, and possibly other chemicals to prevent clumping and such.
So maybe I’ll pass.
@Jax: I’d much rather have Beth here than Cookie. Beth often says things that I disagree with to one extent or another, but which make me think. Cookie doesn’t say anything.
But Ol’ Doc Taylor, who runs the place, doesn’t like people saying someone should be banned. So all I will say is that I would be a whole lot more liberal with the ban hammer than he is.
@Gustopher: I’m a Patreon subscriber to this website, and I also have Beth on Signal. I’m about done, after 20 something years. Love you guys, but it’s too hard to come home from a hard day and watch the fucking cookie derail everything.
@Jax: That’s so wild, I may be persistent but I’m gentle. How many other websites do you visit?
@Gustopher: Signal is good, by the way. We can share cat pictures. I’m tiedyejax on there, too, I think…. 😉
@Fortune: Fuck off.
I live in fucking Wyoming. I deal with people with way more balls than you all day long. When was the last time you sorted cattle? I deal with Trump’s ACTUAL base all day long.
I can make it easy for the Outside the Beltway management. If they say I’m banned, there’s no need to block anything, I’m gone.
@Fortune: And I am, actually, really tired of your bullshit. You have turned a nice community into a kill the troll scenario. Take a stand, Fortune! Where are your balls?! “Well, I didn’t vote for him, but I carry water for him.” Stand up! Do it! You’re probably some low-level IT Libertarian that can’t actually run for office.
@Fortune: I mean….we’ve all been telling you to fuck off for months. Sorry you didn’t recognize ” the point”.
@Fortune: We’re hosting a rodeo, in my county. You know, actual cowboys. Not Trump children. It’s called the Green River Rendezvous. ACTUAL cowboys, not you or Connor. Care to show up? Too wussy? I dare you. I will meet you there, on the Green.
@Fortune: I mean, I’ve already told you to fuck off. And I’m a paid subscriber to this website. And I won’t be if this is what I have to read when I come home at night after a hard day. Piss off.
@Kathy: The biggest problem is that it probably won’t taste like much. The alliums and essentials will have faded away to almost nothing but now.
@Fortune: I fear I can read faster than your “videos”. I have no time for videos, I need it in text, and YOU who need “videos, and somebody to explain it to you”…..man, sorry ’bout your bad luck. Us old folks read, and understand.
@Jax:
Not a cowboy myself, but the rodeos I saw out west when I was younger were much better than more recent ones on the eastern state/county fair circuit. Those eastern ones were fine, mind you, but the talent at the western ones, in big and small towns, was at another level.
@Eusebio: The cattle are also competing at another level. Those bulls and bucking horse stock have been bred for generations to be mean. The cowboys are also top-tier athletes.
@@Fortune: Here’s me, calling you out. Pay to keep OTB going, or get the fuck out.
Sorry, everybody else, but we’ve lost people we love BECAUSE of people like Fortune and Connor. I’m about done on this site because of them. I will stay on the Signal chat.
@Fortune: ” If they say I’m banned, there’s no need to block anything, I’m gone.”
…at the very least until I come up with a new name and start posting as a different person. Because if I can’t annoy total strangers online, how do I know I really exist?
@Fortune:
Tell you what. I won’t formally ban you right here and right now. I will just ask you to go.
I haven’t banned you for reasons that have been addressed before (although if you did in fact attack Beth, that would have been enough).
Jax is right. You don’t contribute anything.
All of my annoyance with you aside, I acknowledge that my various attempts at both sincere interaction and obvious snark to get you to meaningfully engage always fail.
You never make an argument. You never really express an opinion of any complexity. You never, ever actually engage with people. You pretend to want to have a conversation, but either you don’t really want to have one, or you don’t know how.
And you disrupt threads you are on. So yes, this is an invitation to leave, since you offered.
@Jax: Please don’t go.
I’m not on Signal, and would miss you here.