Quotes and Links
A week in review
Note for new subscribers: On Fridays I send out a post with a list of various notable quotes from the past week, along with links to some of the best reading material I’ve come across. You can opt out of these posts by simply clicking on the top right and going to “manage subscription.”
“I see what everyone else sees on Kamala Harris’s résumé: a history of public service that qualifies her for the presidency. But I would argue that the qualities she shows as a cook might say even more about her success as a leader.” — NYT’s Padma Lakshmi
“If you want to fix a broken system, you have to pull money OUT, not put more money IN. If you put more money IN, the system interprets it as a reward and uses the money to become even more broken. We get this for businesses. We forget it for nonprofits and governments.” — Marc Andreessen
“It’s not quite clear what Ms. Harris gained, aside from giving her campaign aides the ability to say she held a one-on-one cable television interview.” — NYT’s Reid J. Epstein, on Kamala’s softball interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle
“One could watch and say she didn’t give a clear and direct answer. And that’s okay, because we’re not talking about clear and direct issues.” — Stephanie Ruhle, speaking with Chris Hayes after the interview
“The craziest thing about this election is that we have a very good economy -- the best in the world -- and so many people feel/act/pretend that it’s bad.” — John Harwood, whose speaking fee ranges from $20,000 to $30,000
“President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles. Though it is looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time.” — Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, which is the only Muslim-majority city in the country
“The mainstream media is not who you think it is. The mainstream media truly leans right.” — Mark Cuban, in an interview with CNBC
“Donald Trump, being the socialist that he is, had to beat Bernie. So, Donald Trump went out and recommended that interest rate caps be set to ten percent.” — Also Mark Cuban, during an appearance on CNN
“Mark Cuban is proof that morons can become billionaires.” — Elon Musk
“[Trump’s] version of the wall was ridiculous. [Kamala Harris] wants to do it in a way that actually has impact and actually slows illegal immigration while making sure that it’s done in a sensitive way. So, you know, the bottom line is he is utterly hypocritical about it and she will definitely point that out.” — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, speaking on ABC News
“They should get all the mean book reviewers to live together in some giant brownstone and film everything like the Jersey Shore. Would have terrible ratings but there would be 8 pieces a day about it in New York magazine.” — New Yorker’s Jay Caspian Kang
“The future of journalism will consist of a mix of criticizing Republicans’ claims, repeating Democratic claims credulously, and scrutinizing Republicans’ criticisms of Democrats’ claims.” — Economist Chris Oldman
“As Vice President, there wasn’t a single thing that I did that she couldn’t do and so I was able to delegate her responsibility on everything from foreign policy to domestic policy.” — Joe Biden, during an appearance on The View
“You become inured to the notion of the removal of the FBI and DOJ, so that those agencies are no longer there to serve as a check against white nationalism, great replacement theorists, Christian nationalists, white fragility, fascists, and the twice impeached convicted felon, former president and would-be dictator Donald Trump.” — Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, speaking at a hearing for the Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government
“Well, I’m out of here. I’m already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name. I don’t know how it is going to work as far as dealing with my wife and my children. I certainly don’t want them moving to where I’m looking to go.” — Michael Cohen, who told MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace that he plans on fleeing the country if Trump wins
“We know that Donald Trump has been the subject of Russian influence, and so the question becomes, why is he continuing to do Vladimir Putin’s bidding?” — NYT’s Mara Gay, on Trump supporting a peace deal for Ukraine
“In Palestine and all over the world, the fight against colonialism and corporations’ destruction of the planet are intrinsically linked.” — Greta Thunberg, in a message to her fellow climate cult members calling for a Chevron boycott
“Tim Walz was selected to be the running mate for Kamala Harris so she could pull in union votes. So far it’s been a colossal failure as she is now losing Teamsters by 32 points IN MINNESOTA.” — Townhall’s Dustin Grage
“Remember, kids: deportation is bad unless Martha’s Vineyard does it, in which case it is a heartwarming Hallmark tale of enrichment.” — The Blaze’s Matthew J. Peterson
“How do you balance free speech versus crazy stuff that, you know, got people not to take vaccines, for example.” — Bill Gates, appearing on the Today show
“Hey, young men planning on voting for Trump: The GOP wants to ban condoms and abortion. Hope you’re ready to be a father!” — NY State Senate candidate Skyler Johnson
“Trump walked down a ramp slowly and the media went full red alert 25th Amendment. Jill Biden is holding court in Cabinet Meetings while the president looks around the room aimlessly and NBC and others are like this is all perfectly normal.” — The Spectator’s Stephen L. Miller
If you need to get past a paywall, try Archive Today or 12ft.io.
Toronto Life: “A growing cohort of Torontonians are swapping the coke-fuelled, booze-soaked club scene for cold plunges, sobriety and superfood smoothies. Inside the expensive, obsessive, addictive quest for a perfect life.”
A Tablet piece about the “online world of true crime fandom, where people treat school shooters and serial killers not as criminals but like characters from their favorite movies or novels.”
“The rise of BlueAnon,” from The Spectator.
Bloomberg: “The Russian Bot Army That Conquered Online Poker.”
A Washington Post story about NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the search for life on other planets.
“Reading in a Digital Age,” from The American Scholar.
“Inside the Dangerous, Secretive World of Extreme Fishing,” from The Atlantic.
"the fight against colonialism and corporations’ destruction of the planet are intrinsically linked."
Moralistic mutants like Greta Thunberg will cross the globe in their gilded cocoons lecturing poor countries about what they should grow, eat, wear, how they should live, will excuse and defend all their most destructive behaviors (of course you committed a bloody massacre, you couldn't help it, you're Oppressed!) and then imagine they're AGAINST colonialism!
Not only is St Greta the modern colonialist par excellence she is the entire 21st century West encompassed in a single person: a young "neurodivergent" woman from an upscale family addicted to self-righteousness who barely went to school, NEVER held a job, and who's never lived a single day where she's not on social media begging for likes and attention by denouncing everything and everyone for failing to live up to her fantasy standards, who's never ONCE spoke a single word of gratitude for the enormous safety and luxury she was born into, the people who created and sacrified to hand it to her, and who would destroy it all in a fit of teenage pique just to show how much more spiritually enlightened she is than the rest of us.
She is pretty much the literal incarnation of the West's suicidal deathwish.
Chris Oldman describes not just the future of journalism, but the way it's been for quite some time.
Somebody should make a parody video of how J-schools train the next generation of shills for the Democratic Party:
- Professor: We have a story on tariffs. Republicans want to increase them against imports from China.
- Student: Those costs get passed on to the American consumer. We're paying for those tariffs.
- Professor: Excellent. And how do we know that?
- Student: "Experts say."
- Professor: Very good. Now, what happens when the Biden or Harris administration implements tariffs against China?
- Student: Very nuanced. Some of those tariffs are mostly symbolic. They create resilient supply chains because they force companies to move their production from China to smaller countries. Plus, it's good to flood with U.S. market with cheap materials for solar panels even if they take jobs away from Americans because we have to go green fast. They're basically playing 3D chess.
- Professor: And how do we know this?
- Student: "Experts say."
- Professor: You've learned well. Now take your rightful place at NBC.