21 thoughts on “Even Walmart Gets It”

  1. jack, thanks. and thanks to wally world, sonnen, tesla, and all the other corps and individual volunteers who are stepping in to aid our fellow americans in puerto rico while prez twit tweets twaddle.

    thanks too to whoever chose the background music for that wally world commercial…. very fitting. here it is with lyrics:

  2. in case you missed Michael Gerson in wapo yesterday on the twit and time for gopers to panic, here’s an excerpt:

    But the real problem has always been Trump’s fundamental unfitness for high office. It is not Trump’s indiscipline and lack of leadership, which make carrying a legislative agenda forward nearly impossible. It is not his vulgarity and smallness, which have been the equivalent of spray-painting graffiti on the Washington Monument. It is not his nearly complete ignorance of policy and history, which condemns him to live in the eternal present of his own immediate desires.

    No, Corker has given public permission to raise the most serious questions: Is Trump psychologically and morally equipped to be president? And could his unfitness cause permanent damage to the country?

    It is no longer possible to safely ignore the leaked cries for help coming from within the administration. They reveal a president raging against enemies, obsessed by slights, deeply uninformed and incurious, unable to focus, and subject to destructive whims. A main task of the chief of staff seems to be to shield him from dinner guests and telephone calls that might set him off on a foolish or dangerous tangent. Much of the White House senior staff seems bound, not by loyalty to the president, but by a duty to protect the nation from the president. Trump, in turn, is reported to have said: “I hate everyone in the White House.” And also, presumably, in the State Department, headed by a secretary of state who apparently regards his boss as a “moron.”

    [….]

    The time for whispered criticisms and quiet snickering is over. The time for panic and decision is upon us. The thin line of sane, responsible advisers at the White House — such as Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — could break at any moment. Already, Trump’s protests of eternal love for Kelly are a bad sign for the general’s future. The American government now has a dangerous fragility at its very center. Its welfare is as thin as an eggshell — perhaps as thin as Donald Trump’s skin.

    [….continues…]

  3. I certainly hope Gerson is right, but repugs don’t seem to have the insight to realize, care and change from the path they have chosen. ?

  4. meant to mention a good phrase I saw written in a book review re grant by gopnik in the new Yorker oct 2 edition  of something similar and descriptive of what happened when the bernies hitched up with the trumpsters dark side in last election:

    —misguided progressives making common cause with true reactionaries against a well-meaning middle—

    here’s the context from which it came:

    The reason Reconstruction failed, and ended with the reimposition of an apartheid system, had to do with an exasperating coalition of self-styled Northern “reformers” and the openly revanchist, anti-Grant Southerners—misguided progressives making common cause with true reactionaries against a well-meaning middle—and also with a general battle fatigue that afflicted the nation.

    btw, review so well done and intriguing, it was enough to interest me in reading chernow’s book

  5. carl Hiaasen in Miami herald

    Memo: The word “moron” is banned from the White House!

    [….]
    This ban shall include all adjectival enhancements of the word, including but not limited to “f—–g moron” (Mr. Tillerson’s phrase), “hopeless moron,” “clueless moron,” “dithering moron” and “pompous moron.”
    [….]
    Under this new directive, any Cabinet member who gets caught calling the president an unflattering name will be required to indignantly deny calling him that name, including but not limited to the aforementioned versions of “moron.”
    Some of you have suggested that because the president himself is a prolific name-caller, he is setting a tone that normalizes such coarse dialogue in his administration.
    To clarify the president’s view: He approves of name-calling only as a means of advancing his incredibly fantastic agenda for this country. He firmly believes that slurs, insults and sneering belittlement will help Make America Great Again.
    For instance, all staff and Cabinet members should feel free — as the president did — to label black athletes “sons-of-bitches” if they protest racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem.
    Likewise, under these guidelines it is totally acceptable for you to borrow the term “politically motivated ingrates” — coined by the president himself — to characterize Puerto Rican officials who have complained about the federal response to Hurricane Maria.
    In fact, you are permitted to use almost any offensive language the president likes to use, and you may use it about anybody except the president. His personal favorites include but aren’t limited to “pig,” “dope,” “slob,” “dummy,” “liar,” “cheater” and “psycho.”
    There is one popular insult that is hereby off-limits to any of you but the president — the word “loser,” which he intends to have trademarked. Numerous synonyms are still available, including but not limited to “failure,” “slacker” and “flop.”
    [….]
    Any violation of his directive will result in a humiliating series of tweets, to which you are prohibited from responding. Then, when the president is finished demeaning you, you will likely be fired.
    [….]

  6. Walmart has had a Gay Pride section for years.  I was given one of the Pride lanyards a few years ago.  I do not wear it out of general dislike of its business practices.  Any company which does take a step in the direction of LGBTQ support is another company breaking away from hate.

  10. This is probably the fear of every community that goes through a big widespread disaster

    https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/fleeing-the-fires-in-sonoma-county
    From a New Yorker article by Emma Cline
     
    Beyond the property, the loss of life, there’s the sense that Sonoma County’s very identity is threatened by these fires, in ways we can’t yet see.
    I’m comforted by the particular Sonoma County flavor to the help offered: free coops for evacuee chickens, acupuncture available in shelters, stress remedies from the local herbal-studies school. Back-yard farmers coördinate on social media to gather produce for displaced families. A local winemaker posts a video of “Waiting for a Miracle,” by the Jerry Garcia Band, on Twitter. This is what I hope doesn’t disappear, doesn’t get crowded out by the new economic reality forged on the other side of the fires.

  12. I checked out Walmart’s groceries. Too expensive. I’ll keep shopping the Asian & Hispanic groceries, supplemented by Cub and Aldi’s. The former two are on the same corner, the latter two are on a different corner.

  13.  

    Keep wondering when the brainwashed deluded might finally register that Trump was a hideous mistake.

  14. If you are interested in a bit of adventure, travel, meet hundreds or even thousands of people you never expect to meet again, the American Red Cross Disaster Services would be happy to help you.  RedCross.org  click volunteer.

    There is an urgent need for people to deliver and serve food and water in the California fire disaster region.  Also logistics, such as fork lift drivers and warehouse hands.

    And, you get it all paid for by donors.  It is like a vacation, sort of like a vacation, almost like a vacation, eh?  Twelve to sixteen hour shifts.  Sleep in shelters or if you are really lucky, a motel/hotel. You get fed and there is unlimited snacks and water.
    Also there are a lot of things you can do from your own home, such as help lines or client case work.

    It is a blast.  And, the best part, you get to wear the Red Cross Disaster Services vest!

  16. Sturg, that’s okay–look at the positive–you can still root for Ohio State and the Indians and warm weather.

  18. Mr Sturgeone, I hear that Cambodia is inexpensive for retirees.

    I don’t know if they have a world’s best exotic marigold hotel, though.

  20. Holy rate increase insomnia, my silver plan woke me up — it exploded as trump intended.  I did get the letter from my health insurance company for my new rate is $1170.46/month for 2018.  Praise the lord as the subsidies are gone, evangelicals rejoice.   I know, pay the fine and don’t get sick until Medicare kicks in next year.

  21. Good morning, Jace.   How ya feeling?  As always, waiting for the music selection on Sunday.

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