Matt Taibbi: How the Left lost its mind

ReasonTV ^ | July 2023 | Nick Gillespie

[Steely Tom]

00:00 Introduction
3:20 The Twitter files
7:35 Suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story
12:35 The anti-proliferation regime
16:26 Russiagate and the preemptive war against Trump
22:25 Conservatives and liberals flip stances on Russia
24:36 Leaving Rolling Stone for Substack
29:26 Matt’s Substack audience
30:40 Young liberals and progressives are turning against free speech
34:17 Breaking with identity politics
38:12 Support for prosecuting Julian Assange
41:52 The eternal villain
44:06 Similarities between RFK Jr. and Trump
46:50 Distrust in government due to COVID
51:11 Race relations and policing
54:14 Binary nature of media

[Steely Tom]

Very interesting interview with Matt Taibbi, traditional liberal journalist. Covers many topics discussed here at FR.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Slowly at first, then all at once.

[sauropod]

Bflv.

[Steely Tom]

Actually, the original quote (from Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises) is "Gradually, then suddenly."

Illustrating the power of his commitment to brevity.

Hemingway believed that words — once removed by aggressive editing — left behind a sort of ghostly residue that could be detected by the reader; that these "word ghosts" provided a subtle sort of "heft" to the remaining prose.

[aynrandfreak]

Too bad Gillespie still seems stuck in the "both sides bad" moral dodge.

https://x.com/nickgillespie/status/1864016723562610772

[Steely Tom]

Let’s not make perfect the enemy of good.

[aynrandfreak]

I think there's a lot of wisdom in what you're saying, and I think it's important to have a liberty movement come together, but it's these "Establishment" libertarians (and conservatives for that matter) that have expressed the most TDS as a prerequisite of not being shunned by the DC cocktail party circuit.

Nick owes us better than just carping on Trump for four years. He's also bitter about the new Mises Caucus that took over the LP & backed Trump. Once Ross is freed, the non-carpers can get together.

[spankalib]

Hemingway believed that words — once removed by aggressive editing — left behind a sort of ghostly residue that could be detected by the reader; that these "word ghosts" provided a subtle sort of "heft" to the remaining prose.

Nice post! I've evolved much the same opinion in my writing, but the (brevity) idea is on steroids when it comes to poetry! -IMO.

Christ the Coke Machine

We sin.
Then confession's coin rolls in.
Out bounces sweet can of forgiveness.
We drink it all down
with barely a frown
for myrrh-mingled wine’s sour business.

[Steely Tom]

Once Ross is freed, the non-carpers can get together.

Free Ross Ulbricht?

Do you think Ayn Rand would have supported what he did?

Not the creation of an on-line open marketplace, but the engaging of hit men to murder people who troubled him?

Would Ayn Rand's total lassez faire model have extended to the hiring of professional killers to go after one's enemies?

[captmar-vell]

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:22

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; “ Romans 1:28

[aynrandfreak]

You are repeating the government's assertion about the hitman, it's suspicious that they didn't charge him with it, and the evidence I could find online was shady. (i.e. Entries in Ulbricht's personal electronic journal, found on his seized laptop, stating "commissioned hit with angels" and "sent payment to angels for hit on tony76 and his 3 associates"

Who logs such things? I find it just as likely they cooked that up to teach him a lesson for not showing contrition. Trump's sympathy likely stems from seeing what vindictive prosecutors are capable of.

[Steely Tom]

They had him. They had him dead to rights. He had good representation.

They sent him a picture of the “dead man,” and then he paid by bitcoin. Cause and effect. Give me a break.

They have him soliciting the hit, negotiating the hit, and paying for the hit. The money showed up.

[Steely Tom]

Trump's sympathy likely stems from seeing what vindictive prosecutors are capable of.

Ok fine. If he pardons him, he pardons him.

But it doesn't mean he's innocent of what he was charged with. And the "angels" are Hells Angels, which he was completely sure he was dealing with.

[aynrandfreak]

That’s what Trump said too, that ten years seemed like enough for what he was charged with. That’s why it would be a commutation.

[Steely Tom]

Ok, fair enough. I hope he commutes his sentence.