"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by liberal japonicus I think that everyone gets their info and news from other sources, ObWi was never really going to be a place to post hot takes or red meat, but this is one of those things where I really fear for my sanity. The NYTimes podcasts have been interesting, Ezra Klein interviewed Tim … Read more
by liberal japonicus Thought that we need the space. A few things that have been rattling around my head. -GftNC has some questions about the rallying cry "Not going back". I think, because Americans have such a glossy memory of previous times, it works perfectly for USaians. I mean, it covers people who love Reagan, … Read more
by wj We're overdue for another Open Thread. And this coming week's Democratic National Convention seems likely to provide cause for comment. So here's your chance! Open Thread
by liberal japonicus The report that Politico was given documents from the Trump campaign that were hacked by Iran, including a 270 page(!) dossier on JD Vance has me retell this joke: A: Ask me how I became the greatest Iranian comedian? B: Ok, how did you become… A: Timing! The Politico article reports that … Read more
by liberal japonicus As everyone is probably aware, Governor Tim Walz is Harris' VP pick so a thread about that. Here is his first speech, in Philadephia (starts at 32:39). A few observations/questions in order to put up a quick post. Listening to Shapiro's introduction speech, I'm glad they chose Walz. Not that the speech … Read more
by liberal japonicus This started as thinking about pundits but has overflowed into a lot of other news. I had in mind the categories fellow travelers and useful idiots. These are pretty radioactive terms, and I welcome some alternatives, but absent any substitutes, I have to trudge on. As I understand it, fellow traveler was … Read more
by liberal japonicus The title is lifted from a comment by Pete that had GftNC at a loss. I thought I'd talk a bit about tautologies, as an invitation to an open thread. The linguist Paul Grice is probably most famous for a set of maxims, which are now termed Gricean maxims, that he proposed … Read more