No Country For Middle Aged White Men. Or Women.

Ross Douthat reminds me yet again that he is a pundit to whom we should listen very carefully. His take on the recent news that working class whites have a shocking health and mortality crisis seems spot-on to me:

STARTING around the turn of the millennium, the United States experienced the most alarming change in mortality rates since the AIDS epidemic. This shift was caused, not by some dreadful new disease, but by drugs and alcohol and suicide — and it was concentrated among less-educated, late-middle-aged whites.

We had hints that something like this was happening. We knew suicide was increasing among the middle-aged, that white women without a high school degree were struggling with health issues, that opiate addiction was a plague in working-class communities. But we didn’t know it was all bad enough to send white death rates modestly upward in the richest nation in the world.

I do want to emphasize his point that, although men commit more suicides than women, there has been a parallel decline in the health outcomes for high-school educated white women. (And do let me add that he links to the same TAP article I cited a few days back, so maybe I don't need to abandon the playing field just yet.)

As to reasons, his gist is that this is not poverty per se, since blacks and Hispanics in this country experience comparable (and probably worse) levels of poverty relative to working class whites. However, those groups have had decades to develop institutions and expectations to deal with it.

Amid the stresses of the dot-com bust and the Great Recession, it was only white Americans who turned increasingly to drugs, liquor and quietus.

Why only them? One possible solution is suggested by a paper from 2012, whose co-authors include Andrew Cherlin and Brad Wilcox, leading left and right-leaning scholars, respectively, of marriage and family.

Noting that religious practice has fallen faster recently among less-educated whites than among less-educated blacks and Hispanics, their paper argues that white social institutions, blue-collar as well as white-collar, have long reflected a “bourgeois moral logic” that binds employment, churchgoing, the nuclear family and upward mobility.

But in an era of stagnating wages, family breakdown, and social dislocation, this logic no longer seems to make as much sense. The result is a mounting feeling of what the American Conservative’s Rod Dreher calls white “dispossession” — a sense of promises broken, a feeling that what you were supposed to have has been denied to you. (The Donald Trump phenomenon, Dreher notes, feeds off precisely this anxiety.)

For obvious historical reasons, though, Hispanic and (especially) black communities have cultivated a different set of expectations, a different model of community and family (more extended and matriarchal), a different view of success and the American story writ large.

...

If this possibility has policy implications, it suggests that liberals are right to emphasize the economic component to the working class’s crisis. But it cautions against the idea that transfer payments can substitute for the sense of meaning and purpose that blue-collar white Americans derived from the nexus of work, faith and family until very recently.

Maybe sustained growth, full employment and a welfare state that’s friendlier to work and family can help revive that nexus. Or maybe working-class white America needs to adapt culturally, in various ways, to this era of relative stagnation, and learn from the resilience of communities that are used to struggling in the shadow of elite neglect.

This has been unfolding for quite a while. The Angry White Man was credited with the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. Bill Clinton ran in 1992 on a promise to redirect the economy to reward those who "worked hard and played by the rules". And of course the First Sociologist gave us his view back when he was a candidate in 2008:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Then again, in the Times comments on related articles it is easy to find impassioned progressives arguing that you can't overthrow a hate-filled white patriarchy without breaking a few eggs, so what's the big deal?

And I note that Ross ducks the question of a possible creative tension between policies that promote "full employment" on the one hand and the current Democratic/Big Business Republican desire to wave in millions more unskilled immigrants.

Comments

[cindyk]

First....just because...

[henry]

Sadly, those currently in power think the answer is to break more eggs and break them faster in the name of social justice, diversity, and made up population statistics (especially the gender swapping crowd). Addressing this problem requires listening to white people -- which is now taboo in academia, media, and government sectors.

[cindyk]

Oh and Happy Happy Day Capt'n Hate🎼🎶🎂🎂🎊🍷❗️

[James D.]

Maybe sustained growth, full employment and a welfare state that’s friendlier to work and family can help revive that nexus. Or maybe working-class white America needs to adapt culturally, in various ways, to this era of relative stagnation, and learn from the resilience of communities that are used to struggling in the shadow of elite neglect.

Or maybe working class white america needs to start voting out the neglectful elites who have caused all these problems, en masse. And if that fails, stringing them up. I think that would solve a lot of this issue.

[GMax]

I may need to reconsider Bill Kristol if he keeps making this much sense:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/ben-carson-reconsidered_1059376.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=20151106_TWS-mag-ben-carson-reconsidered-3_facebook.com&utm_content=TWS

Well at least to the end where he starts lauding Jim Webb, the slightly less insane Democrat on the stage. Just strike his whole last paragraph on second thought.

BTW Carson is bragging that thanks to the media hit job he pulled in $3.5 MM from thousands of donors who are sick of media deciding who Republicans run for office. Take a bow JOM, you had a hand in sending that counterpunch out.

[Frau Mir wird's bald zu bund]

Thanks for socking-it-to-em, Clarice. Nicely done.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Shorter Douthat;

If you devalue morality and bankrupt the country with a welfare state the working stiffs get it in the neck.

[But less speedily so.]

Well, the last time this came up my thought was 'Speed Kills' but this time my thought is 'Sociology Kills'.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Doug Giles asks the question of the week;
If Carly is 'Ugly' Then What Is Whoopi?
Wonder what Ted Danson's answer to that stumper is.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

another win for the nut;
"DONALD TRUMP GIVES SNL ITS BIGGEST RATINGS IN YEARS"

[GMax]

WhoopI Cushion is indeed very unattractive. But Joy Behar was hit with the ugly stick until it broke. And that big momma Michelle? Yikes, that would scare little kids if it were made into halloween costumes. In other words, people in glass houses should not live next to a gravel pit...

[clarice]

After I wrote my AT article, the WSJ piled on, and Carson demolished their acct as well:http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/ben-carson-just-proved-he-never-lied-liberal-media-in-full-retreat

[anonamom]

Happy Birthday Captain. May the coming year be one of health and happiness.

You are good man for oh so many reasons; only one of which is your willingness to transcribe the Sunday morning "news analysis" show each week. Thank you!

[clarice]

On point and interesting: http://andrewgelman.com/2015/11/06/correcting-rising-morbidity-and-mortality-in-midlife-among-white-non-hispanic-americans-in-the-21st-century-to-account-for-bias-in/
"According to my above calculation, the observed increase in death rate in the 45-54 cohort is roughly consistent with a constant white mortality rate for each year of age. So I think it’s misleading to imply that there were all these extra deaths.

However, Case and Deaton find dramatic decreases in mortality rates in other rich countries, decreases on the order of 30%. So, even after we revise their original claim that death rates for 45-54’s are going up, it’s still noteworthy that they haven’t sharply declined in the U.S., given what’s happened elsewhere.

So, one could rewrite the Case and Deaton abstract to something like this:

This paper documents a marked increase flattening in the all-cause mortality of middle-aged white non-Hispanic men and women in the United States between 1999 and 2013. This change reversed ended decades of progress in mortality and was unique to the United States; no other rich country saw a similar turnaround stasis.

Still newsworthy.

P.S. Along similar lines, I’m not quite sure how to interpret Case and Deaton’s comparisons across education categories (no college; some college; college degree), partly because I’m not clear on why they used this particular binning but also because the composition of the categories have changed during the period under study. The group of 45-54-year-olds in 1999 with no college degree is different from the corresponding group in 2013, so it’s not exactly clear to me what is learned by comparing these groups. I’m not saying the comparison is meaningless, just that the interpretation is not so clear."

[Michael (fpa Patriot4Freedom)]

Happy Birthday Captain H

You deserve *much* better than the Terps and the Browns !

Hope you have a great birthday.

.

[James D.]

Happy birthday, CH!

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Thanks again, all.

Wow the Packers are really missing Jordy Nelson. I think I'd rather have shingles than have Terry Bradshaw at my front door to warn me about it.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

I have criticized Kim Strassel for plenty of things in the past but I think she made an important point in how the media is taking it upon themselves to whittle down the candidate pool on their own without the citizens having an opportunity to cast a single vote. Maybe it doesn't matter but we'll never know for sure.

[GUS]

Capn, Mike McCarthy is border line retarded.
He is allowing Cam Newton 5-8 seconds to throw at will. IF YOU DO THAT, YOU WILL LOSE. The Packers are poorly coached week in and week out. The announcers continue to tell America how good the Packers O-line is.
zero pro-bowls and Rodgers running for his life every week.

[Jack is Back!]

Drove over to Quogue for lunch today and went by Weesuck Creek. That is not a typo. When I was a kid there was clam schack there that was one of my Dad's favorites: The Weesuck but You Shuck Clam Bar.

[MarkO]

If we were to use the word "Democrats" instead of "MSM" or "Liberal" or "Media" or "The press" or "ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC" wouldn't it make the bias more understandable. It certainly would be accurate.

I would prefer that we not permit the Democrats to continue to hide behind the "media" as separate entity or group when, in fact, they are all Democrats. A fact that is indisputable and verifiable.

I see Glenn Reynolds is now pushing and idea I floated here nearly 8 years ago, that is, that things won't change unless and until one of "ours" has a network and a major newspaper.

[daddy]

Clarice's 12:57 link has the bit about the Psychology Exam Carson was talking about that he took at Yale.

Chris Wallace on FOX is unaware of this new evidence and just 20 minutes ago on our broadcast here pushed that Psychology Exam as another another example of a falsehood that Carson was talking about and panelist Juan Williams then chipped in that Carson was like a Rap Star, embellishing his history.

Again, will an apology be forthcoming from Chris Wallace and Juan Williams?

[anonamom]

Gee Gus, I know nothing about football, and I just told my husband that the Packer's offense just isn't doing it.
Even I know that.

[Threadkiller]

As in "Democrat Savanah Guthrie was the only person to have touched the purported Birth Certificate amongst the other Democrats invited to the press gaggle?"

[daddy]

From Clarice's 01:48 on NPR non coverage of the Tuesday Election results around the nation:

The PBS NewsHour week-in-review chat with Mark Shields and David Brooks wrapped up with Judy Woodruff sheepishly noting “We didn’t get around to those elections this week. We will talk about it next Friday.”
….It’s even sillier on a half-hour show, when Gwen Ifill wrapped up by saying “That’s all we can fit in for now."

[Rick Ballard]

How long does it take to say "As elections in Kentucky and Virginia prove, it sucks to be us."?

[Jack is Back!]

Opportunity knocks and TK answers:)

[daddy]

I'd rather have shingles than have Terry Bradshaw at my front door to warn me about it.

Posted by: Captain Hate on the iPad

Happy Birthday, Captain Hate!

Here's a song specially for you on this wonderful day:)

[clarice]

What about De(media)ocrats?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Finding that old Yale story on the quiz and JiB's previous link to the actual class Carson took is utterly devastating to that WSJ bullshit. You know Politico won't apologize or correct. Will the WSJ which still has a little credibility?

These dumbasses think they're digging up kryptonite when all they're doing is feeding Popeye spinach with every one of these stories that proves to be false.

[GMax]

So is there anything still outstanding as unanswered of any of the various hit jobs run by the media on Carson? I seem to remember one of them being we are unable to find people in the neighborhood ( from 50 years ago ) to corroborate the boy with a nasty temper story. We can't refute it would have been better reporting, or even better yet not running a story on nothing.

But I am sure the $3.5 MM will help the campaign, and I am also sure if they do it again the dollars will flow again.

[anonamom]

Ig--i just tweeted WSJ about their "mistakes." (Smear, lynching, whatever. I use #LynchingBenCarson in these communications.)

It's become my favorite way of communicating these kinds of things--they do get them, and they are public.

It is also a way to reach Cavuto re: debate questions--keep them to less than 142 characters.

[narciso]

Ah thwjournal is proving as corrupt as enterprise's under the late Mr. Lesin in volodya town, he was his putzi hanstaegl
.

[daddy]

Here's a question.

On this 22 second video from May 2008, of the CNN Reporter telling Obama at the beginning that there will be no questions about Reverend Wright, the reporter says:

“I want to just stipulate at the beginning of this interview: We are declaring a Rev. Wright-Free Zone today. So, no questions about Rev. Wright. Our viewers want us to move on, so this morning we’re going to move on. Is that okay with you?”

How did the CNN Reporter know that the viewers wanted CNN to move on?

[clarice]

I wrote J Christian Adams on PJ Media about his original article on the Carson story and he's filed a new piece:http://pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/2015/11/08/storms-in-the-forecast-for-ben-carson/?print=1

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Joel Kotkin; Are we heading for an economic civil war?
On the divide between the tech weenies [sorry henry] and the industrial rest of the country.

[daddy]

Meanwhile, over at US News and World Report:

Carson Should Quit---
The neurosurgeon's 2016 campaign has run its course, and it's time for him to bow out.

Carson's latest kerfuffle, which seem to be occurring with increasing frequency as people take a closer look at him, appeared Friday in Politico. The piece, which you can read for yourself, claims the candidate now admits the claim in his autobiography that he was offered but turned down an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point was a fabrication.

If that were true, that should be enough to put an end to his campaign.

What if it's not true? Should Carson still quit the race?...For his own good, Carson should quit the race. He's not having an impact on the policy discussions and his presence is distorting the results of the national and state polls. Most of all, if he stays in the political-media machine is going to continue to pick and poke at him and chew him up...

The reporter is Peter Roff. His writing has appeared in National Review, Fox News’ opinion section, The Daily Caller, Politico and elsewhere.
He should be be shot.

[narciso]

Fed to wolves, they should take one for the team,yes it does 'smell like teen spirit' when a conscientious public servant was savaged. Certainly the good doctor is having an impact.

[daddy]

I heard Dr. Carson used "which" instead of "that" in a restrictive clause. And he split an infinitive.

Posted by: jimmyk

I'm furious!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--He should be be shot.--

And not with a be be gun.

[GUS]

J Christian Adams is a fukwad. Add his sorry ass to the list.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Steven Hayward on "Cultural Appropriation", wherein crackers can't wear sombreros on Cinco de Mayo.
Does that mean blacks can't play basketball and Hispanics can't play baseball because white culture and white dudes invented them?

No one sane buys the left wing, lunacy that blacks can't be racists, so assuming this cultural appropriation thing works both ways it seems like there's an almost endless list of white culture that would be off limits in the game of tit for tat.

[narciso]

I'm not saying Peter roff is a murderous cannibal, but based on iowahawk's extensive review, I'm not dismissing it either.

[Jane]

Hell this furor over Carson and the response it has created may actual garner him the nomination.

Perhaps the times they are a-changing.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

As much as I admire Dr Carson and detest the personal attacks, his grasp of issues and some of his policies both seem questionable.
I don't need a guy to know all the usual gotcha details but he actually seems even weaker than Trump in many cases. As long as there is someone like a Cruz who has a documented history of consistent, well informed conservative views an outsider without that consistency is a gamble not worth taking, IMO.

[narciso]

As for Dr. Adams has he learned nothing from the last six years.

[Jack is Back!]

I have lost any and all respect I had for J. Christian Adams. He is doubling down on his own sorry repitition of baseless reporting of an unfounded fabrication. Shame on him. As a lawyer I thought the truth had a higher bar.

BTW, today I heard Bartiromo on Fox and Friends Weekend telegraph that indeed there will be questions on Carson's leadership character due to his biographical ancedotes. She says it legitimate to question not only a candidate's positions but their credibility to lead them to policy.

Stay classy CNBC Alum, stay classy.

[henry]

Iggy, yes. The Silicon Valley search for unicorn racket is its own world. Pure hype, no reality is allowed to enter. Any monetary policy aside from ZIRP would wipe it out entirely.

From the post: Part of the problem seems to be that nobody these days is content to merely put their dent in the universe. No, they have to fucking own the universe. It’s not enough to be in the market, they have to dominate it. It’s not enough to serve customers, they have to capture them.

It is a good critique of the start up culture in California.

[narciso]

Its a good thing dueling hasn't made a comeback.

[narciso]

Or maybe not. It would clarify some things.

[narciso]

Well we could ask her, how participation in Clinton foundation events, are not a conflict of interest?

[hrtshpdbox]

.. indeed there will be questions on Carson's leadership character due to his biographical ancedotes

Good, I'll bet Carson is thinking "bring it".

[daddy]

For his own good, Carson should quit the race. He's not having an impact on the policy discussions and his presence is distorting the results of the national and state polls.

Let's grant this imbecile reporter that the above is true, which I don't. Well what impact is Dr Ben Carson having then? I'll tell you what impact he's having:

---He's demonstrating, in incomparable fashion, how the insiders (i.e.) the Left and the MSM and the White Toga crowd and the GOPe will do whatever the hell they can to destroy an intelligent honest outsider from ever breaking into their monopoly and getting near the levers of power in this country.

---He's showing in marvelous fashion how hypocritical and racist and corrupt are the Left and others fighting to keep their place in the establishment.

---He's showing splendidly what average decent people are up against when they try to make a positive difference in this rapidly decaying Republic.

Others here could say it better and see more, but at the moment the attacks on Dr Ben Carson are a gestalt changing event, a window into the corruption rife among the elites of this country that needs airing at least as much if not much, much more than some "policy discussion" or some bulls@#$"distortion of national and state polls' .

Who even gives a crap about a "distortion of National and State polls", other than some closeted, bought-off beltway flunky? And if they want "Policy" discussions, isn't that the function of the Media to ask "policy" questions instead of semantic gotcha's? Damn straight it is.

So how is any of that Ben Carson's fault?

If this "reporter" Peter Roff, had 1 one-hundredth of the integrity and honesty of Ben Carson, he'd be cheering Ben Carson's integrity and courage, and demanding that he stay in the Race to continue to illuminate how grievous and perilous is the situation in this Republic (of The People, by The People, for The People) instead of encouraging Ben Carson to crawl away and hide from those who have less use for "The People" than King George the Third did.

[James D.]

Hey, GUS,

McCarthy may be a terrible coach, but the Pack has a shot at a huge comeback...

[hrtshpdbox]

Well put, daddy. By the way, Peter Roff is getting critical tweets on this issue, and I piled on.

[jimmyk]

How did the CNN Reporter know that the viewers wanted CNN to move on?

They probably asked both of them.

[Jack is Back!]

Anyone here ever write a book? I know rse and sbw have. And I'll bet they did it using copious notes and research references all scribbled down, filed and available for citations, footnotes and credits.

Why wouldn't Carson have done the same? I have read "Gifted Hands" as has Frederick and he has read "You Have a Brain" and they both are inspiring, personal accounts without the shred of fabrication. You can bet he has each anecdote and life experience recounted in those books fully documented. If he did verbatim without any notes or references then indeed he is a fabulist extraordinaire but knowing him he has enough to choke an elephant much less a weeny journalist.

[Miss Marple]

The people on my discredited list is growing larger daily.

If Fox Business tries to treat Carson like they did when they ambushed Trump, I will go ahead and cancel cable. I am done with this BS.

[BeenThe]

Excellent daddy - your keen analysis of Carter's vital role in this present age of corruption and deceit needs wider circulation.

All I can say is may God bless Doctor Carson and keep him safe from the savages...

[daddy]

Bill Nye, the science educator, whose new books tells how to deal with AGW deniers. If fossil fuels are taxed enough, it will make wind and solar cheaper.

Let's tax milk and bread more---it'll make steak cheaper!

What I learn doing catch-up:(

[daddy]

New Niners QB, some guy named Jason Gabbert(sp) hits a TD pass.

[Rick Ballard]

Geez, Kim, the man seems to enjoy cutting up human brains...

If the typists have joined together to demonstrate the awesome power of the MFM by attacking Carson, I believe they may have vastly over rated themselves while vastly under rating the impact of a single honest man.

[rse]

Nor was it a hit by the GOP establishment because they don’t benefit from Carson’s disappearance. Carson doesn’t drain votes from their preferred candidates. Instead, a gaggle of small-government conservatives in the race would benefit most from Carson’s fall.

GOP establishment doesn't benefit? This analysis by Adams, who I have met, is as crappy as PJ Media's education stories on Common Core that somehow manage to never actually get the essence of the story.

On whiteness, last week an update to Decentering Whiteness came out that is, unfortunate, not from the Onion. There are links to it and speeches on it in the comments on my blog.

Oh, boy do I have notes jib. For anything I write I assume I might have to satisfy a summary judgment level of proof. The outlines to blog posts show the actual page numbers any quotes are from and I keep those legal pads.

[Janet]

Marlene wrote this on the End It thread -

"...The media attacks on Carson will only discourage other citizens from venturing into politics. Maybe that is why the media,the establishment,our "betters" recoil when a non-politician tries to enter into the political fray."

It goes with daddy's excellent comment.

[henry]

Daddy, Gabberts went to my high school, then U Missouri, then was QB for Jacksonville (less said the better there). His parent, aunts, and uncles also went to my high school while I was there. So I wish him well.

[daddy]

and his presence is distorting the results of the national and state polls.

How does Peter Roff know that?

And tell us Roff about the distorted polls last week in Kentucky, in Virginia, in Houston, and in San Francisco.

Was it Ben Carson who distorted them?

[rse]

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/pj-gladnick/2015/11/08/yale-student-goes-drama-queen-berserk-over-lack-safe-space

The thing is the admin the Yale student is mad at is a huge tranzi prog. I recognize Nicholas Christakis as Alexander Christakis' son because I looked him up when one of his economic pieces or communitarian visions came out.

Kim will appreciate this. Alexander, in my world because of his Structured Design Dialogue which is how he wants MOOCs to function was one of the co-creators of the Club of Rome part from David Chase Manhattan and aurelio Peccei. Christakis and another prof who went to wharton to push social systems analysis resigned after CoR went with Jay Forrester's faux science crisis approach instead of the social science approach christakis pushed.

The social science approach would have done what the actuall Common Core and the competency-based ed are now doing of targeting the internalized belief and value system so that the image of how the world works shifted, whatever the underlying reality.

[Beasts of England]

The election is exactly one year from today. It'll only feel like three...

[Miss Marple]

Beasts, I am already worn out with it.

Am this close to cancelling cable.

Right now I have on Misomer Murders on Netflix.

I have gotten so I can't even listen to most of the tv news people. I think th are mostly corrupt, even if they aren't working for the DNC.

Now blog writers are revealing themselves as dishonest and/or stupid.

It's very depressing.

[Jack is Back!]

So, who the hell woke Andrew Luck up?

And even though the Pack lost, it was a game of two halves. A lot closer than anyone who watched the first half would have expected.

Lot of parity in the NFL and that is why having 3 or maybe 4 8-0 teams at this juncture of the schedule is a puzzle to me. Also, lots of hard penalities this day including several that should have been ejections. Orakpo especially comes to mind. But any league that would have scum like Greg Hardy as a member has no moral credibility whatsoever.

[narciso]

Haven't gotten into that one, I've watched a few episodes of foyle's war.

[Jane]

Anonamom,

Do you go by "Anonamom" on twitter?

[Jack is Back!]

In case you ever wonder what the kids, like daddy's, who go to CalTech do for amusement, consider the following:

http://www.flixxy.com/epic-rube-goldberg-adventure.htm?utm_source=nl

[daddy]

Here's a last bit on this moron Peter Roff, since the dogs are demanding I take them out:

For his own good, Carson should quit the race. He's not having an impact on the policy discussions and his presence is distorting the results of the national and state polls. Most of all, if he stays in the political-media machine is going to continue to pick and poke at him and chew him up until there is nothing left.

So the alternative is to get out? Is that supposed to be what will cause the attacks to stop? Whew...I am sure that Sarah Palin quitting the Governorship is relieved to know that the attacks on her from the Left all quit once she quit.

Roff's column is full of such idiocy:

"The people around him were apparently able to get the West Point story knocked down quickly enough, but if they were real pros they should have been able to squelch it entirely beforehand."

Seriously? They were supposed to be telepathic and know beforehand that Politico was going to post this headline: “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship.”, and they were also supposed to be able to predict that dummies like Roff were going to buy it hook, line and sinker?

Here's this fat turd Peter Roff:

If he's this bad at paperwork, I'm surprised he can figure out how to wipe his ass. What a douchebag.

Off with my more intelligent friends. Cheerio:)

[Beasts of England]

Me, too, Miss Marple. I predict at least one self-sabbatical before the cycle is up.

[Dave (in MA)]

Captain,

Zuckerberg Data Mining suggests that I should let you know that I'm thinking about you.
May you hear some good music that wasn't all written down in advance.

[Frau Klimawechsel]

Miss Marple, After your Netflix mysteries run out, I recommend RFD TV for frayed nerves. Dish and FamilyNet may offer it in your area.

I'm dreaming of the day when Bill and Hillary! will be the focus of "American Greed."

[maryd]

Thanks for the picture, daddy. It cements my mental image of this clown.

[Frau Bauernhof]

Oops - I forgot to LUN

[James D.]

I'm sticking to football today. I'm too angry/frustrated at the MSM and the Drms, and I need to de-stress for the evening.

So how about those Colts, killing the Broncos at halftime? Where did that come from!

[James D.]

MM, there's also the Hallmark Channel. Christmas movies 24/7 from now until the fond of the tear. That's my go-to choice.

[Jack is Back!]

I don't think Hillary and Stinky will be pleased.

The trailer to 13 Hours.

https://amp.twimg.com/v/3d4c2f8b-52e8-409d-a89e-ffa7e7e55857

"where do we find such men?"

[James D.]

I apologize to all Colts dans for jinxing you. What a crazy end to the half!

[sbw]

Just back after 6 hours yesterday and 5 hours today raking leaves. Catching up.

Happy Birthday CH!

Gave a 25 minute speech last night to area international students on an assigned topic, go beyond your comfort zone. was pleased by the number of people who said a number of different things I said were worthwhile for them.

I asked a student from India how America was different than his expectations. He instantly responded that Americans are far more generous. He repeated that in his thank you to Rotarians.

[GUS]

Bugger off Peter Roff, you suck. Nice looking goatee.

[Miss Marple]

Frau,

Thank you.mi il see if it is available around here.

Midsomer Mysteries gives me beautiful shots of the English countryside sans Muslims, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries gives me elegant 20's fashion and conversations about the Great War.

I will run out eventually so am glad to have other suggestions. Some days I think I should live like Tasha Tudor, feeding sheep and chickens and growing vegetables. Alas, I have no artistic talent so her lifestyle I couldn't support.

[anonamom]

Jane--no. I'm out there.
Jeff has my email.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Off with my more intelligent friends. Cheerio:)--

Hey! I may not be smarter than a Gordon Setter but I'll be damned if I haven't got a few watts on a Golden Retriever.

[Jane]

Anonamom,

My name is YouTooCongress, so maybe we can do it that way - or I'll go thru Hit.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

If you write off Powerline in toto you'll miss excellent columns like this finely honed response by Mort Kondracke to some NYT hack's [but I repeat myself] half witted slam of Kondracke and Fred Barne's book on Reagan.

[henry]

Jane, I just followed your Twitter.

[narciso]

Well fry and scout understand loyalty and truth, subjects foreign to murderous cannibal roff.

[Frau Bauernhof]

narciso, fry's and scout's carp smells better, too.

[Beasts of England]

James D. microaggresed the Colts! :)

[James D.]

The way the game is going now, it looks more like a macroaggression!

[narciso]

ok, they are tied now, but clearly Luck was behind the ball earlier,

[Jeff Dobbs]

Happy B-Day Captain.

[Jane]

Cool Henry, Because...

Hey we have a new addition to the family on Capt Hate's b-day.

Henry Wyatt Chapman born at 4:45 this morning. Everyone doing great.

[Jack is Back!]

Never count Manning out. He might just set the record for passing yards tonight and win at the same time. I think he may have listened to Stephen A. Smith's diss today and is on a mission the 2nd half. I like Stephen A. but sometimes I question his logic.