Michael Hobbes

@michaelhobbes.bsky.social

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Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

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Michael Hobbes

NY Times: You thought this election might be about an unprecedented convicted criminal running to overthrow Constitutional democracy? You think you decide the narrative? Oh no. That’s our turf. And we say the most important thing in the election—nay, the world—is Joe Biden’s age.

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Michael Hobbes

Trump raped a woman, was revealed as being in constant contact with a sex trafficker, stole nuclear secrets, is old, forged electoral certificates, was convicted of 34 felonies, committed fraud, is literally on the Saudi payroll, sent a mob to hang his VP but the opponent is also old.

In this chat, we suggest a distinction between covering something (NYT does great reporting on Trump's autocratic plans), and *crusading.* The latter is wholly different: It uses saturation coverage to alert readers that they should be alarmed. That's just not happening w/r/t Trump's unfitness.

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Michael Hobbes

Oh absolutely fuck the fuck off, Blair. Go and paint or something with your mate George Bush. labourlist.org/2024/07/tony...

Tony Blair calls for Keir Starmer to be tough on immigration, crime and ‘wokeism’ – LabourListlabourlist.org Tony Blair has called for “a plan” for immigration control, tougher action on crime and for the new government to avoid “any vulnerability on wokeism”. …

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Michael Hobbes

Fascinated by this paragraph. “Dems have more substance, but Repubs are better at lying about it. Therefore there is no way to determine which is better.”

the thing you really can't over-emphasize about reactionary centrists is how *dumb* they are www.persuasion.community/p/a-guide-fo...

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Michael Hobbes

If for no other reason, turn out to vote to spite the “men who have never done anything but sniff their own farts” club.

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Michael Hobbes

Reply to

silver

I think this summed that point up quite well. x.com/drvolts/stat...

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Michael Hobbes

Fanfic. The only option is Harris. Period. She is Biden's running mate. People voted for her. There is no -- NO -- way to ask her to step aside that is not insulting. None. The article says that people would be "captivated." Wrong; this would guarantee a million Dems In Disarray stories.

Hey you guys wanna see the dumbest plan to replace Biden possible? www.semafor.com/article/07/0...

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Michael Hobbes

look - I'm receptive to both "no, it's gotta be him" arguments and "he's gotta step aside" arguments. not to be wishy-washy but both arguments have merit. "then we do a tourney" is OTOH flatly hilarious. yeah that'll go great. there will much much unity in the wake of the electoral deathmatch

To save democracy, the Democratic party may resort to deploying the greatest concept of all time: a political version of the NBA In-Season Tournament

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Michael Hobbes

Long election campaigns also put the emphasis, over and over again, ON THE ELECTION rather than on governing: like voting is all we as citizens have to do; like winning is the most important quality in a candidate. GOVERNING. The thing is GOVERNING. Elections should be a means of accountability+

Long elections waste immense amounts of money. they harass potential voters into apathy. They play into the horse-race, scandal-fed view of politics that feeds deeply unserious media coverage. They NOT INCIDENTALLY make it difficult/impossible for campaigns to deal with last-minute surprises.

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Michael Hobbes

An article in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet, using the conservative estimate of 4 indirect deaths in Gaza for every one direct death (in other conflicts it’s been 3-15x), calculates that Israel has killed approximately 186,000 Palestinians. That is 8% of the population of Gaza.

Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essentialwww.thelancet.com By June 19, 2024, 37 396 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip since the attack by Hamas and the Israeli invasion in October, 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, as reported by the UN Offi...

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Michael Hobbes

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Michael Hobbes

“we need a party which is willing to compromise, while offering pragmatic solutions. a party with ideological diversity, made up of people from all walks of life. [looks at democrats] no, not like that.”

the thing you really can't over-emphasize about reactionary centrists is how *dumb* they are www.persuasion.community/p/a-guide-fo...

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Michael Hobbes

On Joe Biden’s worst day (the debate) he was still better than this

This was a speech during which he did not have to answer any questions, he supposedly knew where he was going to be several days ahead of time, and this is what he came up with

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Michael Hobbes

Once again Trump successfully uses better verbal fluency to present the impression that he’s younger and more vigorous and meanwhile he’s fully spouting gibberish

If you paid attention to Trump's side of the debate, he had the same underlying problem Biden did, where over and over he would start a sentence and realize he couldn't say or remember the words that would come next, but where Biden stalled out, Trump just switched to blurting something unrelated

Can you guys read without making facial expressions? I have lost this ability as I’ve aged

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Michael Hobbes

"RETRUTH IF YOU WANT TELEVISED MILITARY TRIBUNALS" is, to me, a deranged and instantly disqualifying thing for a presidential candidate to say, but on the other hand joe biden looks and sounds very old

In the exact same nine day period that Biden and his White House and campaign have been flailing, Trump has offered voters a window into his own mental state and vision for term 2 It’s not great! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

QAnon Memes, F-Bombs, and Tribunals: As Biden Faltered, Trump Amped Up the Crazywww.rollingstone.com Trump quietly had his own week from hell while the media was hounding Biden

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Michael Hobbes

well we had a good run

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Michael Hobbes

"flubbed"? He mispoke between a billion and a trillion and corrected himself? That's a flub?

Now everyone--The Times and, sorry to say, MSNBC--is noting every missed syllable. The man has a stutter. I don't stutter but I am a mushmouth who speaks too fast and slurs words. I've had to overcome fear of public speaking. I have empathy for Biden. The press has empathy for no one (but Trump).

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Michael Hobbes

Really good 15 min TWiV episode with Paul Offit outlining how false and irresponsible the recent lab leak nonsense from @nytimes.com is. I for one appreciate the brevity - there really is nothing more to it. If you're interested in the topic, give it a listen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukv9...

Beyond the Noise #40: Lab leak maniawww.youtube.com In this episode Dr. Offit asks, why did the New York Times publish an op-ed supporting the lab leak theory when all evidence supports a zoonotic spillover?Sh...

immediate ctrl+w www.persuasion.community/p/ending-our...

Nailed it www.persuasion.community/p/how-wester...

I like the coconut tree memes as much as everyone else but I do think we should all be on the same page about Harris's quote actually making sense when you realize she was telling a story about her mom and illustrating a point about education. www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

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Michael Hobbes

I have no idea the best path re Biden but I do know a solid week straight of “Biden Old” and “Rich Dems Worried” above-the-fold stories are *obscene* in the face of SCOTUS using the Constitution to wipe their asses purely in the service of reinstating a felon rapist as president. Crazy-making shit.

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Michael Hobbes

Kelly-Jay Keen aka Posie Parker received 196 votes in the electorate she stood for, meanwhile, this woman won the seat with over 24,000 votes

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Michael Hobbes

the latest Snowden leak: his brain from his ears

People really need to give up the idea that politicians have the power to 'sell' their actions to the public. Regardless of what he says, Biden's message will be filtered through the media and boiled down into horse-race headlines. It will be *very* obvious he's stepping aside after a bad debate.

I think Biden could easily sell stepping aside. "I have served my country for 52 years. As many Americans know first hand, it is hard to admit when you've slowed down." Then talk about spending time w/ grandchildren, efforts best spent fulfilling elected duties, VP Harris is well-prepared, I endorse

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Michael Hobbes

Man, if it turns out that the right winger telling NY Times readers that they should follow his example and not vote did in fact vote in the last two elections, the Times should add this to the piece. Better than a retraction, since it illustrates a willful hypocrisy.

He voted in both 2020 and 2022.

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Michael Hobbes

Remember how the "retail theft crime wave" disappeared as soon as companies had to do their annual reports? That's because it's illegal to lie to shareholders. AI is booming (if you're a pleb) but if you have money - Goldman Sachs will be honest with you instead web.archive.org/web/20240629...

🤷🏿‍♂️

There's a Small Problem With the AI Industry: It's Making Absolutely No Moneyfuturism.com AI is not making money for investors which may be connected to businesses having trouble adopting the technology.

web.archive.org

Am I going to an Independence Day party? Brother, I bring the party wherever I go.