This past weekend, I traveled to Washington, DC to visit two of my adult children. As time has passed, and especially during the past three years, the federal (and state and local) governments have become even more misfocused, intrusive and destructive. Mark Leibovich’s
Someone I was seeing has been sick 3 times since last fall with persistent respiratory infections. He was smug and acted like all my anti-Covid-vax information was cuckoo. It was a kind of "you're wrong but I still like you" treatment from him. No facts or deeper understanding of the issues to support his position. He is a smart guy in other ways, so I just don't see how it would not now cross his mind that I was right: the vax lowers general immunity. I have innate immune system issues and have not been sick at all, even after being around him. Pride wears a thick veil over the eyes!
Had lunch with a friend last week who told us of several of her close friends actually dying in the last year or having strokes/heart attacks. She can't put two and two together I guess...and she would drop our long term friendship like a hot potato would I even suggest a correlation. Why are all my long time friends (who were teachers) suddenly so dumb? My sister actually said "guess he sat next to someone on the plane who was unvaccinated" when her son tested positive for covid (no symptoms! HA!) a couple of Christmases ago...shoot me now!
I think a lot of people we used to think are smart, too smart to fall for all of this, were always just parroting what actual smart people thought and said. Now they are still parrot, but their material is from devious or dumb sources.
Teachers especially are dumb. It’s sad kids have to be around them. Teachers have the Union mentality and are used to group think, someone or some other thing will take care of them. God forbid they think for themselves and actually have to prove their worth, and salaries.
My SIL was the child of California teachers, and was a union-represented emergency room nurse and later was a part time administrator while still nursing part time. They live in Washington State and she swoons over Fauchi. My brother who used to be conservative and a critical thinker, is just as brainwashed (by her).
It was never like this when I started teaching in the 70s. At least those I hung around with were able to complete a rational thought and see various opinions regarding an issue. I don't know WTF has happened since I retired 6 years ago. Glad I did!
Cheryl, I taught Jr High Art in the early 80’s. I loved the teachers like family. Most of the kids were awesome, but since it was art I got all the resource kids in my class, so, 20 ‘regular’ kids, 5-6 resource kids. And I was teaching pottery and jewelry and design. I think ADHD drugs were new then btw. I only lasted 3 years and moved and went into my lifelong profession, fine jewelry. Mostly custom design. It was a great run. 😊
Wow I have a similar situation. My SIL teaches in the London County School District in NOVA. I am confounded by what happened to her. She was always a critical thinker and fell into the whole Covid psyop. I maintain a relationship by not saying much. It’s surreal. I meant Loudon County VA.
Maybe she would drop you if you suggested it, but maybe she'd just look a bit surprised and baffled (the official response especially among "experts"), and either say nothing or "that never occurred to me", quickly changing the subject. That's been the response I've had when I've suggested that family members, who I'm convinced died from the shots, were killed by the shots. I have no idea if the seed I dropped fell on fertile ground or not, but hope springs eternal and it's worth a shot.
Some of it is lack of cognitive capabilities to see thru teh lies but a lot of it is also peer pressure and fear; the fear that if you don't do/act as the perceived majority you may not be accepted by society. Many people only outwardly support something because they fear not doing so will lead to no-acceptance. The media and other institutions help promote a false perception which reinforces this pressure. They are doing it now with the so called gender affirming care; making people believe it is majority supported and if you don't support it then you are the ignorant bigot who needs to be cast out from society. It takes very strong willed persons to resist that pressure.
Never did ANYTHING in my life to "go along" or "be a part of" a crowd....which is why I developed my own rational thinking abilities and rely on my intuition for many things my whole life! I have never been wholly wrong! :-)
I don't recall teh exact figure but I want to say that Dr Jordan Peterson said that around %17 of the population fall into the category of those whom you can't pressure into compliance.
This is their religion. If they were to look at reality honestly and examine contrary evidence, the whole faith based system they cling to would come crashing down.
They were always dumb, just good at functioning in society as long as everything runs according to script. I am very tired of hearing about "really smart" people who are brain-dead on COVID. It's very easy to see exactly what's going on. It was easy for millions of us to see in spring of 2020. Everyone who was fooled by this is an idiot. The vast majority fall in that category, unfortunately, which is why societies always end up falling apart.
and meanwhile, when I attempt to share truthful information on our public health sight in my community I get called names, "don't care" about fellow human beings, and I really should "try better to become a better person"....ohhh boy! and yes I am right with you with never falling into the script I was being given. I am continuing the fight and won't back down!
Yes, it's really something to behold. I always knew most people aren't very bright, and those in charge can't be trusted, but still, this has been so over the top. Such a shame Rod Serling couldn't have lived to see these times.
Cheryl: "My sister actually said "guess he sat next to someone on the plane who was unvaccinated" when her son tested positive for covid...." Hmmm. Maybe b/c he wasn't sitting six feet from his nearest seatmate. The airlines need to catch up w/ this health requirement--By ripping out all of the offending seats. Henceforth; All seats must be six feet apart; in all directions. Come to think of it--Maybe the unclean passenger was the unvaxed troglodyte sitting twenty rows away? Was your nephew triple masked? We "all" know that masks--the more masks one wears; the better--are our first line of protection. (After the continual boosters.) Cheryl; as Bill Clinton once said; "I feel your pain." I constantly shake my head at these insufferable delusions; it's a wonder it hasn't fallen off.
As a follow up, they made my then 95 year old mom have "Christmas" in the garage, in Ohio, with the door open...And they had masks on. Ho Ho Ho!!! (True story!)
Yes! I know more than a few people who got vaxxed to the max and who now seem to be sick continually. One woman told me her husband was sick yet again, and that he seems to come down with something or another literally every single month since his last vaccine. This is a man who was never sick much in previous years. In general, there always seems to be a lot of "something" going around with the vaxxed crowd. As for me, my little old unvaxxed self never gets sick! And that's generally true of all the unvaxxed people I know.
The proudly vaxxed around me - those who still cling to the coronamania - are beginning to wear their repeated infections as a badge of some sort. They will proudly tell me when rattling off their current adversities "...and I had Covid...." as if that's the cherry on top. They've voluntarily blinded themselves to the truth.
It is human nature to fear admission of being wrong. Internally we believe it will make us look weak or lesser with the group and group acceptance is a driving human need. The reality of it is that people tend to more respect someone who is wiling o admit it when they were wrong. You can go over board with it and end up loosing respect but when done appropriately it results in more respect and trust, not less.
to be able to apologise is one treat that distinguishes humans from animals. when a parent, a teacher or a politician (an a-symmetrical relationship) admits a mistake in front of the children, students or an audience, it makes them closer and more communicative.
Very truthful analysis of DC as I know it too. I live in Rhode Island but hail from Maryland and on my many trips can attest how much DC has changed. It’s a city of rich bureaucrats and lobbyist hangers on. The only time it had any air of the past is when I attended the Defeat the Mandates rally. All of this is sad and feels late stage empire.
Fellow Rhode Islander, hailing from Florida many moons ago. I've seen large chunks of the world since leaving Florida in the late 70's. Those travels have included just about all of the US Eastern seaboard - including DC and NYC, much of southern California, Seattle, Portland, Idaho.
How much it has all changed in such a relatively sort span of time.
I've commented on another substack that, these days, I have absolutely no desire to visit either coast these days. No desire to see the mess - that SanFran, Portland, DC, NYC have become. No reason to chance my well being, or hand over any of my rapidly devaluating dollars.
The analogy of late stage empire doesn't seem at all farfetched. I worry about my grand-kids.
PS I know I know, the source is 'the most reliably wrong publication in the history of the known universe' 😂 (h/t Chris Bray)—but I've got this vague inkling we can prolly trust it just in this particular case for a change.
sounds like you've read Glubb's "The Fate of Empires". If not, I hope you do, I can tell you'd like it. Free PDF easily found online, only 25 pages. Worth the read for sure.
You nailed it. I've lived near your AirBnB for most of my life, but I did spend some years away in the middle, which was the best thing I've ever done to gain perspective over the craziness that is the dDC Metro area. On your next trip here, we should have coffee.
You are referring to the "Member of Obama's Kitchen Cabinet" sticker, right? My parents have that on their Bethesda fridge.
My dad worked for the government for his entire life, so most of the family friends who came to the house were also federal government employees. This was the sea I swam in. Many of my neighbors and friends have had long careers with the federal government: NIH, HHS, DHS, DOD, FDA, EPA, CIA, US Patent Office, DOJ, NASA, Commerce, Congress, the White House, the Smithsonian. Did I leave any out? What this has done for me has been to get some inside peeks when I'm at parties and whatnot -- they openly talk shop and I play along and overhear and ask questions and piece it all together. I've also worked for several government contractors over the years in different industries.
It is as insular, fake and batshit as you say.
These careers pay well and none of my federally employed friends is feeling "the pinch" of inflation -- they keep on, in their merry way, vacationing, spending, remodelling their houses as they have been doing all along. And that out of touch life affords them the privilege of disdain of the hoi polloi. They know they are in a privileged bubble, and they intend to keep it that way. I overheard one of them say once, "if these people can't afford to live here, then why don't they just move away?"
Well, lots of reasons. Maybe this is their home, they have family/ties to the area. It costs money to move. They have a right to live here, too. Other personal reasons.
This is the landscape here. You can't avoid it. And yes, they are my friends, family and neighbors. It never felt like much of a problem until COVID divided us. They are still quite clueless about what their allegiance is actually towards.
What I still can't quite understand is how did we go from a nation (like in the 80's and before) who once was able to distinguish between "love of country" and "love of government".
You don't have to live in D.C. to recognize that these days. When/why did that change.
Well, it was deliberate; infiltration from within. Two examples come to mind. I lived in the PNW in the 1990s, and during that time we had "friendly debates" all the time, and people were curious about one another and easy going, helpful, in general. But also respectful of individuals and free choice. Not easily offended. I noticed a huge, "perplexing" shift around 2000. Whereas previously we could "police ourselves," there was a new, noticeable presence of outside "officials" who started to inject a note of suspiciousness info our way of life. People became less open. It happened almost overnight. Things weren't the same as before, and it was not clear where to place the blame, so we all started suspecting one another.... various "groups" to blame. (never us). It was not "obvious" that it was these outsiders playing "you two fight and I'll watch from over here." I only put these pieces together later.
The second example was from the early 2000s, after I'd moved back here to Bethesda, and our elementary school piloted the "Baldrige" method. This was the beginning of what I then observed percolating throughout education ever since then. Basically, someone in authority makes a decision, decides there is a problem (never before was this a problem until they identified it), then asks for stakeholder input on how to solve the problem (in a classroom, they ask the kids. Or, in the PTA, they ask the parents). The stakeholders feel included. Yet, in the end, the top-down, more authoritarian solution is decided and implemented after all, and the box "stakeholder input" is checked, rubber stamping it. The noose slowly tightens, children and parents are perplexed because we keep voicing our unhappiness and they seem to listen, but then do the opposite. This is classic malignant narcissism or psychopathy.
Basically, evil: find out what people want, then do the opposite. Find out what people fear most: give that to them. Find out what they treasure: take that away.
It's outsiders (or an outside entity, if you prefer) causing this to happen. And it happened gradually.
I'm going to write about a school system in Alabama these type people "captured" with their FUBAR new education methods. They've been working for decades to capture the school boards and future superintendents and principals. You are right. Once people see how radical the new education program is, they don't say anything. Some leave if they can, but the rest actually gets behind the new enlightened program. I compare it to a cult. You are with us or against us .... and woe unto the families that go against the cult.
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
I spent most of my childhood and adolescence in Bethesda (I was a Euro expat kid). Moving back to our home country in the year 2000 saved me, I swear. It's such an insular bubble of insanity but you don't truly see it until you step away, as you note.
I maintain one friend from high school who still lives in the area. She went full covidian and distanced herself from me in February 2021 after we butted heads during a phone call. I made measured arguments against masks and lockdowns, she called me a Trumper and almost had a meltdown. She's a ob-gyn who fiercely promoted the vaccines to pregnant women and bragged about convincing the "vaccine-hesitant" Central American cleaning lady at her practice to get injected.
You've just reminded me of something else that I found hugely upsetting. My friend gave birth last year and included me in a mailer announcing the arrival of the baby -- an indication that I've not been entirely excommunicated, although of course she sent it safe in the knowledge that I'm an ocean away.
Well, the email read as such: "Please only come visit the baby if you are up to date with your vaccination schedule, including covid boosters."
I have some words: your friend is really dumb and wrong about the shots.
I had a friend I hadn't seen in two years who wouldn't let me in his house on a 20 degree night b/c I was unvaxxed. We talked on the sidewalk. I'll never stop by his house again.
I worked for a couple of years in the headquarters of the US Transportation Command. You could have drawn a 10-yard radius circle around my desk, and have found enough incompetent deadwood to lay off that you could have saved the government a million dollars a year.
Well done and sage observations and all true. Late stage societal collapse before us all. Democracies last less than 200 years, historically, republics, a little longer. Ours is at about 250 years. But we've been bankrupt for some years now because of exactly what you've written about D.C., but like a virus, most all state capitals a only slightly less corrupt, simply as they have access to less money to steal or waste. Hemingway pointed out that one goes bankrupt slowly at first, then immediately. I do not portend to have a crystal ball but as the great economist Stein pointed out, when there is something that cannot last, it won't. What will be the straw that breaks our backs will be, I have no idea. But a reckoning is coming.
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Hopefully, years from now, people will see that DC culture has become the modern equivalent of the "Mad Men" culture. They are entire society of over-paid liars that have no ethics and will do anything to make a buck using big time propaganda.
The Hunger Games is apt to play out in real time - favored regions vs. the nonbelievers managed by the Capital - in a lot of ways we are already there.
I keep pointing out the parallels to "Star Wars." Everyone loves "Star Wars," right? But all the fans of the movie don't get who the real "Evil Empire" is. We're the Luke Sykwalkers and Han Solos .. BTW, the actor who played Luke is one of the biggest defenders of the totalitarian lockdowns and mitigation measures. Sigh.
I was raised in the Maryland DC suburbs. One of my first "adult" jobs in the '70s was with one of the Beltway Bandits that sprung up at that time. These were the consulting firms that existed only to write grant proposals for federal contracts. My federal "boss" was with the DOE. One day he took me to lunch at an exclusive private club for the DC literary illuminati. The other guest was his contact at one of the major DC universities. They discussed a potential grant from the DOE to the university and I wondered what I was doing there, until the DOE guy told university guy that he would get the grant if I were admitted to the graduate program of my choice at his university. I didn't take him up on his offer, but got quite the education, nonetheless.
I take it they needed you because you were considered an underprivileged colorful person? That experience sounds gut-wrenchingly repulsive. DC reeks and I refuse to go there anymore even for work.
We could fire 3/4 of them and save so much $$$- no one would even know they were gone. Kinda like Twitter/Google "employees" sitting around drinking lattes and eating SNAX all day...
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
During my one visit to Washington DC around 1994, I found the scale of the place to be just too big. It was the opposite of anything you would call accessible, the opposite of a town or village. Huge flat long expanses with very little to relate to, for me. A generic banalness that I couldn't get away from fast enough. Washington is not a place for humans.
I believe there is no greater concentration of corruption and evil in the world than Wash DC. Because the love of money is the root of it! You hit the nail on the head- no public official is ever gonna advise the consumer to do anything to save money or improve their quality of life. That advice would make nobody any money( except the consumer).
In 1978 I signed a pro contract with a baseball league that played games in Birmingham, AL and Washington D.C. Three teams in DC and one in B'ham. Our team drove to DC and practiced for several days in RFK Stadium. We ended up not playing any games in DC because the fledging league went under. I remember going to see the different monuments and thinking how great this "America" was and how fortunate I was. It took me awhile to see how naive I was and to realize how little I understood about this country and who runs it.
Thanks for another dose of truth and reality- you are the man!
More like ' The Sound Of Silence'! ' Hello Darkness, my old friend'!! Remember that tune?? That's where we're at with all the censorship and lack of leaders standing up for the Constitution.
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Faucista noun [fäu̇-ˈshē-(ˌ)stä] 1: a follower of Anthony Fauci. See also: liar, nihilist, Molochian, madman. (H/t Toby Rogers.) Painfully clever ™, innit? 😏
--
Again and again and again ↓↓
🗨 Perhaps the most important question facing our civilization over the next 40 years is not how inadequate leaders become inadequate leaders, but what characteristics of human nature cause us to so consistently choose the most inadequate among us and elevate them to positions where they can do the most harm. ~~Charles Pellegrino, Ghosts of the Titanic, 2000(!)
I used to be truly amazed and offended by the "hate government" Reagan GOPers, especially as it seemed to be an avenue for big corp to pollute with impunity and other malfeasance. I thought government was necessary to protect the We The People from big money poisoning/abusing us. In the past few short years, well omg, WTF. And where the F are the hate big gov GOPers now with all of this clear lawlessness in the Fed Gov completely infecting it seems ALL agencies and departments in clear violation of our constitutional rights?
9/11 and the tyranny expressed through Homeland Security spread like a dark, stinking cloud over many other parts of the world, notably Europe and the other 5-eyes governments. but so did non-compliance over the past 3 years!
And this goes for every country. The people in the UK admiring the crowning of Charles. Dutch, Belgian, and several other countrymen, paying big for their royal house. For their corrupt politicians. Millions of people and only a handful of profiteus, their must be something that can be done, but what?
It is hard to imagine how we can unthrone these awful people, and it always was. Revolutions have been executed everywhere, only to come to the same disaster again. Beheading a king to have a president who is just as bad. Over and over again, the common man is fooled into believing, that the next king, the next president, the next government, will solve the problem. All in vain.
"Sorry" is not the hardest word. "I was wrong" is the hardest thing for most people to say.
Someone I was seeing has been sick 3 times since last fall with persistent respiratory infections. He was smug and acted like all my anti-Covid-vax information was cuckoo. It was a kind of "you're wrong but I still like you" treatment from him. No facts or deeper understanding of the issues to support his position. He is a smart guy in other ways, so I just don't see how it would not now cross his mind that I was right: the vax lowers general immunity. I have innate immune system issues and have not been sick at all, even after being around him. Pride wears a thick veil over the eyes!
I've also seen that the vaxxed are repeatedly getting sick.
Had lunch with a friend last week who told us of several of her close friends actually dying in the last year or having strokes/heart attacks. She can't put two and two together I guess...and she would drop our long term friendship like a hot potato would I even suggest a correlation. Why are all my long time friends (who were teachers) suddenly so dumb? My sister actually said "guess he sat next to someone on the plane who was unvaccinated" when her son tested positive for covid (no symptoms! HA!) a couple of Christmases ago...shoot me now!
I think a lot of people we used to think are smart, too smart to fall for all of this, were always just parroting what actual smart people thought and said. Now they are still parrot, but their material is from devious or dumb sources.
I can say as a Mom of three parrots, they’re incredibly smart. They’re just like dogs in many ways.
Covidians? Not so much.
*parrots
Anyone who got CV wrong isn't smart.
https://markoshinskie8de.substack.com/p/steven-spielberg-and-the-other-unsmart
Teachers especially are dumb. It’s sad kids have to be around them. Teachers have the Union mentality and are used to group think, someone or some other thing will take care of them. God forbid they think for themselves and actually have to prove their worth, and salaries.
My SIL was the child of California teachers, and was a union-represented emergency room nurse and later was a part time administrator while still nursing part time. They live in Washington State and she swoons over Fauchi. My brother who used to be conservative and a critical thinker, is just as brainwashed (by her).
Dumb spreads like a virus.
I wonder if they put some stupid pills in our drinking water a couple of decades ago. If they did, they worked.
What is it they say? : Being stupid is like being dead. When you're stupid or dead, you aren't aware of it. Only those around you are aware of it. :)
It is Dumbassitis. Bridget, someone gave it "scientific" name LOL. Be wise and keep away from this virus 😊
It was never like this when I started teaching in the 70s. At least those I hung around with were able to complete a rational thought and see various opinions regarding an issue. I don't know WTF has happened since I retired 6 years ago. Glad I did!
Cheryl, I taught Jr High Art in the early 80’s. I loved the teachers like family. Most of the kids were awesome, but since it was art I got all the resource kids in my class, so, 20 ‘regular’ kids, 5-6 resource kids. And I was teaching pottery and jewelry and design. I think ADHD drugs were new then btw. I only lasted 3 years and moved and went into my lifelong profession, fine jewelry. Mostly custom design. It was a great run. 😊
Wow I have a similar situation. My SIL teaches in the London County School District in NOVA. I am confounded by what happened to her. She was always a critical thinker and fell into the whole Covid psyop. I maintain a relationship by not saying much. It’s surreal. I meant Loudon County VA.
I said a few things last summer but I would just get the glazed-over stare 🤣 I gave up!
"SIL." I'm a bit slow Karen. Had to Google. "Sister-in-law."
Its funny, I usually get pissed off and scroll on when people use them, but SIL sorta stuck. 😉
Maybe she would drop you if you suggested it, but maybe she'd just look a bit surprised and baffled (the official response especially among "experts"), and either say nothing or "that never occurred to me", quickly changing the subject. That's been the response I've had when I've suggested that family members, who I'm convinced died from the shots, were killed by the shots. I have no idea if the seed I dropped fell on fertile ground or not, but hope springs eternal and it's worth a shot.
Some of it is lack of cognitive capabilities to see thru teh lies but a lot of it is also peer pressure and fear; the fear that if you don't do/act as the perceived majority you may not be accepted by society. Many people only outwardly support something because they fear not doing so will lead to no-acceptance. The media and other institutions help promote a false perception which reinforces this pressure. They are doing it now with the so called gender affirming care; making people believe it is majority supported and if you don't support it then you are the ignorant bigot who needs to be cast out from society. It takes very strong willed persons to resist that pressure.
Never did ANYTHING in my life to "go along" or "be a part of" a crowd....which is why I developed my own rational thinking abilities and rely on my intuition for many things my whole life! I have never been wholly wrong! :-)
I don't recall teh exact figure but I want to say that Dr Jordan Peterson said that around %17 of the population fall into the category of those whom you can't pressure into compliance.
Being outcast is really not all that bad, once you get used to it. I urge everyone to try it sometime.
normal lock step is boring...march to your own beat!
This is their religion. If they were to look at reality honestly and examine contrary evidence, the whole faith based system they cling to would come crashing down.
They were always dumb, just good at functioning in society as long as everything runs according to script. I am very tired of hearing about "really smart" people who are brain-dead on COVID. It's very easy to see exactly what's going on. It was easy for millions of us to see in spring of 2020. Everyone who was fooled by this is an idiot. The vast majority fall in that category, unfortunately, which is why societies always end up falling apart.
and meanwhile, when I attempt to share truthful information on our public health sight in my community I get called names, "don't care" about fellow human beings, and I really should "try better to become a better person"....ohhh boy! and yes I am right with you with never falling into the script I was being given. I am continuing the fight and won't back down!
People be dumb.
Thanks for not backing down. I won't back down either.
Yes, it's really something to behold. I always knew most people aren't very bright, and those in charge can't be trusted, but still, this has been so over the top. Such a shame Rod Serling couldn't have lived to see these times.
Cheryl: "My sister actually said "guess he sat next to someone on the plane who was unvaccinated" when her son tested positive for covid...." Hmmm. Maybe b/c he wasn't sitting six feet from his nearest seatmate. The airlines need to catch up w/ this health requirement--By ripping out all of the offending seats. Henceforth; All seats must be six feet apart; in all directions. Come to think of it--Maybe the unclean passenger was the unvaxed troglodyte sitting twenty rows away? Was your nephew triple masked? We "all" know that masks--the more masks one wears; the better--are our first line of protection. (After the continual boosters.) Cheryl; as Bill Clinton once said; "I feel your pain." I constantly shake my head at these insufferable delusions; it's a wonder it hasn't fallen off.
As a follow up, they made my then 95 year old mom have "Christmas" in the garage, in Ohio, with the door open...And they had masks on. Ho Ho Ho!!! (True story!)
It must be hard being friends with someone who censures you. She must really hate students who challenged her.
Yes! I know more than a few people who got vaxxed to the max and who now seem to be sick continually. One woman told me her husband was sick yet again, and that he seems to come down with something or another literally every single month since his last vaccine. This is a man who was never sick much in previous years. In general, there always seems to be a lot of "something" going around with the vaxxed crowd. As for me, my little old unvaxxed self never gets sick! And that's generally true of all the unvaxxed people I know.
The proudly vaxxed around me - those who still cling to the coronamania - are beginning to wear their repeated infections as a badge of some sort. They will proudly tell me when rattling off their current adversities "...and I had Covid...." as if that's the cherry on top. They've voluntarily blinded themselves to the truth.
I did, too, but vitamin C (a gram every half hour until the headache and fever go away) nips it in the "bud".
Same
It is human nature to fear admission of being wrong. Internally we believe it will make us look weak or lesser with the group and group acceptance is a driving human need. The reality of it is that people tend to more respect someone who is wiling o admit it when they were wrong. You can go over board with it and end up loosing respect but when done appropriately it results in more respect and trust, not less.
to be able to apologise is one treat that distinguishes humans from animals. when a parent, a teacher or a politician (an a-symmetrical relationship) admits a mistake in front of the children, students or an audience, it makes them closer and more communicative.
Very truthful analysis of DC as I know it too. I live in Rhode Island but hail from Maryland and on my many trips can attest how much DC has changed. It’s a city of rich bureaucrats and lobbyist hangers on. The only time it had any air of the past is when I attended the Defeat the Mandates rally. All of this is sad and feels late stage empire.
I think I've read that the wealthiest Burroughs in America are the suburbs surrounding D.C ... Of course they would be.
Exactly! So much money. And everyone is in an echo chamber there. I love my family but they’re swamp things.
Fellow Rhode Islander, hailing from Florida many moons ago. I've seen large chunks of the world since leaving Florida in the late 70's. Those travels have included just about all of the US Eastern seaboard - including DC and NYC, much of southern California, Seattle, Portland, Idaho.
How much it has all changed in such a relatively sort span of time.
I've commented on another substack that, these days, I have absolutely no desire to visit either coast these days. No desire to see the mess - that SanFran, Portland, DC, NYC have become. No reason to chance my well being, or hand over any of my rapidly devaluating dollars.
The analogy of late stage empire doesn't seem at all farfetched. I worry about my grand-kids.
Here's their book of good manners 😏 --> Never Say ‘Nice to Meet You’ and 27 Other Rules for Surviving in D.C., @ politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/17/guide-to-etiquette-in-d-c-00083213
PS I know I know, the source is 'the most reliably wrong publication in the history of the known universe' 😂 (h/t Chris Bray)—but I've got this vague inkling we can prolly trust it just in this particular case for a change.
Late Stage Empire, wow.
sounds like you've read Glubb's "The Fate of Empires". If not, I hope you do, I can tell you'd like it. Free PDF easily found online, only 25 pages. Worth the read for sure.
You nailed it. I've lived near your AirBnB for most of my life, but I did spend some years away in the middle, which was the best thing I've ever done to gain perspective over the craziness that is the dDC Metro area. On your next trip here, we should have coffee.
You are referring to the "Member of Obama's Kitchen Cabinet" sticker, right? My parents have that on their Bethesda fridge.
My dad worked for the government for his entire life, so most of the family friends who came to the house were also federal government employees. This was the sea I swam in. Many of my neighbors and friends have had long careers with the federal government: NIH, HHS, DHS, DOD, FDA, EPA, CIA, US Patent Office, DOJ, NASA, Commerce, Congress, the White House, the Smithsonian. Did I leave any out? What this has done for me has been to get some inside peeks when I'm at parties and whatnot -- they openly talk shop and I play along and overhear and ask questions and piece it all together. I've also worked for several government contractors over the years in different industries.
It is as insular, fake and batshit as you say.
These careers pay well and none of my federally employed friends is feeling "the pinch" of inflation -- they keep on, in their merry way, vacationing, spending, remodelling their houses as they have been doing all along. And that out of touch life affords them the privilege of disdain of the hoi polloi. They know they are in a privileged bubble, and they intend to keep it that way. I overheard one of them say once, "if these people can't afford to live here, then why don't they just move away?"
Well, lots of reasons. Maybe this is their home, they have family/ties to the area. It costs money to move. They have a right to live here, too. Other personal reasons.
This is the landscape here. You can't avoid it. And yes, they are my friends, family and neighbors. It never felt like much of a problem until COVID divided us. They are still quite clueless about what their allegiance is actually towards.
What I still can't quite understand is how did we go from a nation (like in the 80's and before) who once was able to distinguish between "love of country" and "love of government".
You don't have to live in D.C. to recognize that these days. When/why did that change.
Like I said perplexing.
Well, it was deliberate; infiltration from within. Two examples come to mind. I lived in the PNW in the 1990s, and during that time we had "friendly debates" all the time, and people were curious about one another and easy going, helpful, in general. But also respectful of individuals and free choice. Not easily offended. I noticed a huge, "perplexing" shift around 2000. Whereas previously we could "police ourselves," there was a new, noticeable presence of outside "officials" who started to inject a note of suspiciousness info our way of life. People became less open. It happened almost overnight. Things weren't the same as before, and it was not clear where to place the blame, so we all started suspecting one another.... various "groups" to blame. (never us). It was not "obvious" that it was these outsiders playing "you two fight and I'll watch from over here." I only put these pieces together later.
The second example was from the early 2000s, after I'd moved back here to Bethesda, and our elementary school piloted the "Baldrige" method. This was the beginning of what I then observed percolating throughout education ever since then. Basically, someone in authority makes a decision, decides there is a problem (never before was this a problem until they identified it), then asks for stakeholder input on how to solve the problem (in a classroom, they ask the kids. Or, in the PTA, they ask the parents). The stakeholders feel included. Yet, in the end, the top-down, more authoritarian solution is decided and implemented after all, and the box "stakeholder input" is checked, rubber stamping it. The noose slowly tightens, children and parents are perplexed because we keep voicing our unhappiness and they seem to listen, but then do the opposite. This is classic malignant narcissism or psychopathy.
Basically, evil: find out what people want, then do the opposite. Find out what people fear most: give that to them. Find out what they treasure: take that away.
It's outsiders (or an outside entity, if you prefer) causing this to happen. And it happened gradually.
I'm going to write about a school system in Alabama these type people "captured" with their FUBAR new education methods. They've been working for decades to capture the school boards and future superintendents and principals. You are right. Once people see how radical the new education program is, they don't say anything. Some leave if they can, but the rest actually gets behind the new enlightened program. I compare it to a cult. You are with us or against us .... and woe unto the families that go against the cult.
Wow. Good thinking and well said.
You are right!
heavily influenced by the horror that is Homeland Security.
Dani,
You shoulda stopped by for breakfast.
Next time!
You can contact me at forecheck32 at g mail
Wasn’t the company good enough with the Chosen One (Obama) on the fridge and WaPo on the table?
Sorry, I’ll just skate over to the penalty box
I spent most of my childhood and adolescence in Bethesda (I was a Euro expat kid). Moving back to our home country in the year 2000 saved me, I swear. It's such an insular bubble of insanity but you don't truly see it until you step away, as you note.
I maintain one friend from high school who still lives in the area. She went full covidian and distanced herself from me in February 2021 after we butted heads during a phone call. I made measured arguments against masks and lockdowns, she called me a Trumper and almost had a meltdown. She's a ob-gyn who fiercely promoted the vaccines to pregnant women and bragged about convincing the "vaccine-hesitant" Central American cleaning lady at her practice to get injected.
Your friend is so wrong.
Indeed :/
You've just reminded me of something else that I found hugely upsetting. My friend gave birth last year and included me in a mailer announcing the arrival of the baby -- an indication that I've not been entirely excommunicated, although of course she sent it safe in the knowledge that I'm an ocean away.
Well, the email read as such: "Please only come visit the baby if you are up to date with your vaccination schedule, including covid boosters."
No words...
I have some words: your friend is really dumb and wrong about the shots.
I had a friend I hadn't seen in two years who wouldn't let me in his house on a 20 degree night b/c I was unvaxxed. We talked on the sidewalk. I'll never stop by his house again.
Crazy! You just can’t make this stuff up. People have gone bonkers!
While in the military, I was stationed in the DC area for 8 years.
It is a true cesspool of lazy and overpaid and over inflated government workers.
I worked for a couple of years in the headquarters of the US Transportation Command. You could have drawn a 10-yard radius circle around my desk, and have found enough incompetent deadwood to lay off that you could have saved the government a million dollars a year.
I remember Glenn Beck saying you could furlough 75% of DC workers and nothing would change.
The government would run more efficiently.
Well done and sage observations and all true. Late stage societal collapse before us all. Democracies last less than 200 years, historically, republics, a little longer. Ours is at about 250 years. But we've been bankrupt for some years now because of exactly what you've written about D.C., but like a virus, most all state capitals a only slightly less corrupt, simply as they have access to less money to steal or waste. Hemingway pointed out that one goes bankrupt slowly at first, then immediately. I do not portend to have a crystal ball but as the great economist Stein pointed out, when there is something that cannot last, it won't. What will be the straw that breaks our backs will be, I have no idea. But a reckoning is coming.
Danny Huckabee
Hopefully, years from now, people will see that DC culture has become the modern equivalent of the "Mad Men" culture. They are entire society of over-paid liars that have no ethics and will do anything to make a buck using big time propaganda.
I see them as the same as those from the Capitol in Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games is apt to play out in real time - favored regions vs. the nonbelievers managed by the Capital - in a lot of ways we are already there.
Was just about to post the same!
I keep pointing out the parallels to "Star Wars." Everyone loves "Star Wars," right? But all the fans of the movie don't get who the real "Evil Empire" is. We're the Luke Sykwalkers and Han Solos .. BTW, the actor who played Luke is one of the biggest defenders of the totalitarian lockdowns and mitigation measures. Sigh.
I didn't like Star Wars.
I only like it from the standpoint that the creator was born and raised in Modesto, California (my hometown).
I thought the first two were good ... after that, I didn't see what all the fuss was about.
Luke is simply unbearable
The series was supposed to be
The Adventures of Luke Skywalker
Then Harrison Ford came along and upstaged everyone. Hamill was typecast, bitter and went to oblivion.
I was raised in the Maryland DC suburbs. One of my first "adult" jobs in the '70s was with one of the Beltway Bandits that sprung up at that time. These were the consulting firms that existed only to write grant proposals for federal contracts. My federal "boss" was with the DOE. One day he took me to lunch at an exclusive private club for the DC literary illuminati. The other guest was his contact at one of the major DC universities. They discussed a potential grant from the DOE to the university and I wondered what I was doing there, until the DOE guy told university guy that he would get the grant if I were admitted to the graduate program of my choice at his university. I didn't take him up on his offer, but got quite the education, nonetheless.
I take it they needed you because you were considered an underprivileged colorful person? That experience sounds gut-wrenchingly repulsive. DC reeks and I refuse to go there anymore even for work.
terrible
“ Dey chumps”. Bravo!
That just spontaneously flowed out of me.
Thanks, Steve.
No Mark. Thank YOU! You never disappoint.
We could fire 3/4 of them and save so much $$$- no one would even know they were gone. Kinda like Twitter/Google "employees" sitting around drinking lattes and eating SNAX all day...
During my one visit to Washington DC around 1994, I found the scale of the place to be just too big. It was the opposite of anything you would call accessible, the opposite of a town or village. Huge flat long expanses with very little to relate to, for me. A generic banalness that I couldn't get away from fast enough. Washington is not a place for humans.
I believe there is no greater concentration of corruption and evil in the world than Wash DC. Because the love of money is the root of it! You hit the nail on the head- no public official is ever gonna advise the consumer to do anything to save money or improve their quality of life. That advice would make nobody any money( except the consumer).
In 1978 I signed a pro contract with a baseball league that played games in Birmingham, AL and Washington D.C. Three teams in DC and one in B'ham. Our team drove to DC and practiced for several days in RFK Stadium. We ended up not playing any games in DC because the fledging league went under. I remember going to see the different monuments and thinking how great this "America" was and how fortunate I was. It took me awhile to see how naive I was and to realize how little I understood about this country and who runs it.
Thanks for another dose of truth and reality- you are the man!
I smell the stench all the way in CT!!
Even with your mask on?
Two actually! Cause Fauci said to.!! LMAO!
You are a great American, following The Science.
"speed of science"
More like ' The Sound Of Silence'! ' Hello Darkness, my old friend'!! Remember that tune?? That's where we're at with all the censorship and lack of leaders standing up for the Constitution.
Faucista noun [fäu̇-ˈshē-(ˌ)stä] 1: a follower of Anthony Fauci. See also: liar, nihilist, Molochian, madman. (H/t Toby Rogers.) Painfully clever ™, innit? 😏
--
Again and again and again ↓↓
🗨 Perhaps the most important question facing our civilization over the next 40 years is not how inadequate leaders become inadequate leaders, but what characteristics of human nature cause us to so consistently choose the most inadequate among us and elevate them to positions where they can do the most harm. ~~Charles Pellegrino, Ghosts of the Titanic, 2000(!)
Lol.
No, that stench is home-grown in CT
Maybe inthe big cities. Not where I am. Unfortunately it affects us all in this state.
Fauci’s $400K is nothing compared to the $millions in royalties for “products” and various speaking fees and gifts.
I used to be truly amazed and offended by the "hate government" Reagan GOPers, especially as it seemed to be an avenue for big corp to pollute with impunity and other malfeasance. I thought government was necessary to protect the We The People from big money poisoning/abusing us. In the past few short years, well omg, WTF. And where the F are the hate big gov GOPers now with all of this clear lawlessness in the Fed Gov completely infecting it seems ALL agencies and departments in clear violation of our constitutional rights?
“trust is irretrievably broken for anyone who has paid attention.”
The sad part of living in modern-day America.
9/11 and the tyranny expressed through Homeland Security spread like a dark, stinking cloud over many other parts of the world, notably Europe and the other 5-eyes governments. but so did non-compliance over the past 3 years!
And this goes for every country. The people in the UK admiring the crowning of Charles. Dutch, Belgian, and several other countrymen, paying big for their royal house. For their corrupt politicians. Millions of people and only a handful of profiteus, their must be something that can be done, but what?
It is hard to imagine how we can unthrone these awful people, and it always was. Revolutions have been executed everywhere, only to come to the same disaster again. Beheading a king to have a president who is just as bad. Over and over again, the common man is fooled into believing, that the next king, the next president, the next government, will solve the problem. All in vain.
Not everyone in the UK is a fan of the Coronation hoopla. We intend to be out of the country next week and will come home when it’s all over.
thank you for the update. At least some UK has their heads together still!