The Whiner

Is the Taliban coming to town

@TheDemCoalition Very well expressed. It's a fleshed out version of the explanation I've used for a while: "The majority of people need someone to hate in order to feel validated, and they identify with him."

These quick thoughts by Michael Jochum on the disturbing reason Trump gets as much support as he does is a must-read 👇 I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016, and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic and depraved he is. I don’t wonder anymore. I think he won for that exact reason. Because he carried at least one broken shard to reflect the broken shards in millions of others. If you’re a racist, you found your guy. If you’re a misogynist, you found your guy. If money is your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart is armored shut, you found your guy. If you mock the disabled, you found your guy. If intelligence makes you insecure, you found your guy. If you’re a sexual predator, you found your guy. If you trade in humiliation and conspiracy and filth, you found your guy. If you’ve never done a single hour of emotional inventory, you found your guy. If you cheat, stiff contractors, bankrupt your obligations, and call it savvy, you found your guy. If you lie as easily as you breathe, you found your guy. If cruelty feels like strength, you found your guy. If white grievance is your comfort food, you found your guy. If your ego is a black hole no title can fill, you found your guy. If warmongering fuels your ego, you found your guy, If empathy feels like weakness and dominance feels like oxygen, you found your guy. If he’d only carried one or two of these pathologies, he might have been dismissed as just another loud, damaged man. But he carried a buffet of them. That was the appeal. Millions could locate themselves somewhere in the wreckage. They didn’t have to agree with all of it. They just had to recognize a piece of themselves in it. It was never really about him. It was about the validation. The absolution. The permission. He didn’t invent the resentment; he amplified it. He didn’t create the cruelty; he normalized it. He gave millions the intoxicating relief of hearing their ugliest impulses echoed back at rally volume. Trump is a symptom. The deeper illness is collective. If there’s one sentence that defines his power, it’s this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” And that’s the part that should chill us. Because what does it say about us that so many were thinking those things? That tens of millions of Americans harbored resentments so deep, so seething, that they were simply waiting for a demagogue to baptize them as virtue? That after decades of supposed progress on race, gender, and equality, so many white men felt so threatened, so displaced, so furious, that cruelty became a political platform? Maybe we were living in a fool’s paradise, mistaking silence for healing, politeness for progress. Now the mask is off. Now we know. And knowing is a far more dangerous place to stand. – Michael Jochum, Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition.

@Daniel_Sugarman Actually, a couple of weeks ago I was transported by ambulance to a hospital with a dedicated oral surgery team, was seen in the ER at 3am and in surgery at 9am for an infected abscess after a tooth extraction gone bad. However, I'm confident that's not what's going on with Bibi.

Hmmm yes, I too get dental treatment at a hospital at 11pm

@nickgraynews Add paper plates to the list.

I think you can tell a lot about how someone spends money and thinks about money by how they use paper towels.

@SethAbramson Cool. I've always wanted to live in Europe, but it's never worked out.

STOP RUSHING ME, I'M *THINKING* —New England

@reedgalen If Apple was really important in 2026 it would have built an Appleverse.

Funny coming from the guy who's had multiple, billion-dollar busts and only has a job because he owns the company.

@ClistonBrown @GeorgeMcKendree Didn't think an objective listing of presidential rankings was about messaging.

@GeorgeMcKendree @FineWhiner Not a winning message.

I have often been asked where I would rate certain presidents. So I sat down and reviewed the top achievements of all 43 men who served in the office for longer than six months. If they had a major scandal or failure, I dropped them a bit. Here’s how I ended up rating them: (1/)

They're BEGINNING to question it? That would make wonder about theirs.

@durreadan01 Bro, you should hear about this guy Musk... 😅

Bro is criticizing Apple for not inventing anything, while most of his apps are just copied ideas. 💀

@FineWhiner Economic recovery? Good lord. It’s not an economic recovery if prices skyrocket.

@ClistonBrown I'd move others like Hayes and Harding, too, but that's a discussion for another day.

@ClistonBrown Generally speaking, I like the list; I'd quibble with Reagan because of the lasting economic issues he left and Iran-Contra - but I really disagree with Biden, given what he was faced with and the economic recovery he managed to bring about despite powerful opposition.

@bostonradio He should have stuck to Dave TV. At the least, he could have sold it to Paramount.

Song #11(of 18) and Diamond Dave is running on fumes at this point, “Jamie’s Cryin’” (1978), the one Tone Loc sampled into ‘Wild Thing’(1988) and turned into a #2 smash… and luckily, the backup singers showed up, because they basically had to carry him across the finish line…

@MHPoison1 Brief addition: I took home a lovely parting gift. The sepsis led to a gene mutation, causing a form of leukemia (CML). I've been in remission for years now thanks to medication, but the effects of CML and side effects of the meds still make life difficult. Sepsis is no joke.

@MHPoison1 I waited 3 days to go to the ER. My colon had ruptured and I was septic. Emergency surgery was successful, but I needed antibiotic drips 10-20 hours/day for almost a month. Another day and I wouldn't have made it. As others have said, do *not* take sepsis lightly. It's a killer.

I don't like to revisit my experience with sepsis/ARDS. (I swore I'd never agree to another ICU admission in resp distress.) But folks pontificating about sepsis/septic shock have no fkg idea how rapidly it progresses to multi-organ failure & death. 🧵

@ConnerRedSox Great. That will clear up the logjam in the outfield.

OMG 😱

@Joerabbs76 Not my first, but still my favorite:

#Patsnation what up? It’s a gloomy day in MA, so here’s day 6 of asking a #pats/#nfl question everyday till kickoff. What’s the first Pats jersey you ever bought, i’ll go first and man i’m old, it was #SteveGrogan, anyone under 40 can google him. #Pats

Whatever her name is.

Uhm. Colbert could save PBS. Please have your NEW show on PBS. We will buy all the tote bags. PLEASE.