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Bruce’s Hot Takes for February 11, 2024

hot takes

The Forty-Niners will beat the Chiefs by three in the Super Bowl. Right-wingers will go nuts over Taylor Swift, and the halftime show will suck.

We need term limits based on age. Neither Biden nor Trump should be running for president. Both show signs of mental decline. I support an age seventy cutoff.

Biden isn’t the first president to be managed by his spouse, cabinet members, or trusted advisors. Ronald Reagan, by Nancy, and George W. Bush, by Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld, come to mind.

Biden’s unwillingness to speak out against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians may cost him the election in November. I suspect Biden is more worried about losing more Jewish votes than Arab votes. What should matter is the violence and bloodshed. That it doesn’t says a lot about the American people and their political leaders.

Evangelicalism is in an uproar over whether Christians should attend a same-sex/transgender wedding, revealing the hateful bigotry that lies underneath the surface in many churches. Jesus said, “It’s just a fucking wedding.” Alistair Begg said Christians should attend LGBTQ weddings. He was promptly deplatformed by John MacArthur and other notable Evangelical leaders.

Our NATO allies should pay their fair share of mutual defense costs — a minimum of two percent. The question is what do we do when they don’t? Let Russia attack them, as the orange Cheeto said?

If Texas wants to protect their border so bad, Biden should let them, removing all border patrol agents and federal national guard soldiers from the border.

I’m re-reading James Michener’s book, Chesapeake. I last read it forty-four years ago. I’m a Michener fan, but his books tend to voluminous. It will take me several weeks to read the book.,

Catchers and pitchers for the Cincinnati Reds begin spring training this week. I’m so ready for baseball. I predict the Reds will win the Central Division. Hope springs eternal. 🤣

Warning about using your cellphone number for two factor authentication. Change your phone number and you are screwed — as I’m learning firsthand.

Bonus: Corporations continue to make gaudy profits by gouging the American public — raising prices just because they can, regardless of whether costs have increased. Thieves, the lot of them. This is the primary reason most Americans think the economy is in bad shape. All they see is rising prices.

13 Comments

  1. Avatar
    TheDutchGuy

    Happens that I made the same mistake with my cellphone. I can’t get verified without the old phone and number, I can’t change passwords without it, and vice versa. Pinched in the catch 22. We may have to leave the country and start over somewhere with new identities. I’m considering Guatemala.

  2. Avatar
    Scott

    The whole Alistair Begg brouhaha is just fascinating to me. His counseling to the grandma was pretty straight forward for his brand of Christianity, including telling to make sure she condemned the grandchild’ s “lifestyle”. To hear the critics of Begg talk, it’s like Begg was talking the grandma it was fine to pay for an abortion. I’m amazed by the sheer hostility and condemnation of Begg. It’s fascinating to watch them eat their own because of their overwhelming hatred of gays and trans people.

    • Avatar
      Sage

      I am not at surprised at this. The Christian hatred of trans people or anything LGBTQIA+ is very real, and very deep. It is not just bigotry, but pure hatred mixed with a very large amount of willful ignorance.

      My 92 year old, very devout, lifelong Christian mother who spent her adult life as the wife of a Conservative Christian pastor can accept me and love me just as I am. But others in the family tolerate me at best, as long as I am willing to put up the little pithy comments and pathetic attempts to show me I am wrong. If I stand up against their bigotry, they feign innocence and make all the typical claims to show their tolerance, but their actions speak clearly.

      “You will know them by their fruits” is indeed true when you look at conservative Christian’s today.

      • Avatar
        George

        Definitely agree that neither Christians nor anyone else should hate. But with so many word morphs in the last few decades, I’d appreciate a good definition / meaning of the word “hate” so that I can gently answer my many conservative friends who scratch their heads when they hear it.

        I’ve heard it described as disagreeing with someone’s opinion, all the way to genocide, and everything in between. Any assistance is sincerely appreciated.

        • Avatar
          Sage

          I think Christian hatred towards trans and LGBTQIA+ people is quite obvious and needs no explanation. Just look for the people most likely to monitor bathrooms or the people most likely derogatory terms for people not like them.

          They are the people that clearly see how trump does things to severely, negatively impact their own family members, but defend voting for him as “choosing the lesser of two evils”.

          They are the ones that demand I respect their belief and life, but refuse to respect mine, and even try to eradicate me.

          Deep down they know that what they are doing is unacceptable, but to make it ok they hide behind god, saying things like “god expects me to speak the truth” or saying it’s their god who makes the rules, not them.

          You will never convince Christians that they do anything wrong or are hateful. 2 Timothy is their go to book to prove you, me, or anyone (including other Christians who don’t believe properly), who opposes their viewpoint are evil and misled by the world.

          • Avatar
            George

            That’s helps and it’s pretty much what I described, i.e. ranging from disagreement all the way to genocide. But how far does it go with these conservatives? Maybe it varies?

            I once had a college professor say, “The definition of hate is when someone wants you dead.” Is this what we mean when we say conservatives hate us? That they want us dead?

            And please excuse me if you’ve already answered that. I’m not always quick on the uptake.

          • Avatar
            Sage

            It’s really simple. They want to deny our right to exist. I am not talking about an opinion or simple disagreement or some esoteric definition of hate or far left semantics.

            The describe us in subhuman terms. They feel free to use terms like groomer. They call us abominations. They tell people they can’t associate with us. They make laws to make our lives illegal. They verbally and physically assault us. They even call for our deaths or even kill us.

            You know…hatred.

  3. Avatar
    missimontana

    Just watched the Chiefs win the Superbowl. A snooze of a game, imo. The halftime show wasn’t bad (I like that kind of music) but it was certainly adult. Girls on stripper poles. Doesn’t bother me, but Evangelicals and prudish liberals will be having a fit tomorrow.
    I heard that FDR was managed by Eleanor in the end. I don’t know about a cut off age, but there certainly should be a cognitive test. Problem is, even psychiatrists can be bribed or smitten by celebrity.
    Don’t agree that Texas should be allowed to have the border. Wildlife sanctuaries, Indian burial sites, cultural sites. Texas shouldn’t be allowed to destroy everything in the name of security.
    Foreign policy just confuses me. My mind isn’t sharp anymore. I avoid hard news for my mental health. Some see it as avoiding the truth, but I can’t fix anything. I don’t need to know the details to see that a politician is an idiot or incompetent.

  4. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    The religious ads in the Super Bowl made me roll ny eyes so hard I nearly gave myself a headache. I had to explain the foot washing cringe to my husband who didn’t grow up evangelical. He said that Scientology isn’t a real religion because it was started by a science fiction writer looking to profit. I said, yes, it’s a religion, and they all end up being ways to oppress and control people while turning a profit for a chosen few. Look at Mormonism – it’s new enough that we have some historical evidence of Smith. Just because we don’t have the whole story of Paul, or whoever started some of the other religions, doesn’t mean they are devoid of bullshit and used to oppress and control people. He said, when you put it that way, it makes sense.

    I thought the Super Bowl was entertaining. I don’t know Usher’s music, but the dancing was top notch.

  5. Avatar
    Troy

    I hope you didn’t have money on that game. I know nothing about football, but figured the team with Taylor Swift’s boyfriend would win. “cheerleader effect” or “impress girlfriend effect”.

    I don’t see any evidence that Jill Biden is running Biden’s presidency. (It would more likely to be chief of staff though I don’t think that is the case either.) Biden cabinet members say that he is running the show and you’d better be prepared. I suppose my wish would be that Biden would publicize some of these meetings. This hot takes does the same thing Fox news does, Biden so decrepit can’t do anything! Then Biden is responsible for (fill in the blank)! I’m a bit on the fence about a maximum age for Presidents. If anything I’d set it at 80, though the current 25th amendment is probably better at solving the issue if the President’s disability renders him unable to perform his duties. A quick search on if other countries have age limits (usually it is for judges with life long appointments) Uganda 35 min and 75 max. Also note change in Presidential requirements requires a constitutional amendment. Unlikely to be much drive for that unless Trump wins and goes amok as expected. (Allan Lichtman/keys to the white house) tentatively predicts a Biden win, though won’t commit until July.)

    I’ve seen this talking point from the left that corporations are causing inflation. Unless they are a monopoly, they simply don’t have this power. Consumers will simply bolt and get the lower price. Inflation is a direct result of federal reserve policy to keep the economy solvent during Covid lockdowns. If you don’t have the Washington D.C. power to print money you don’t have the power to cause inflation.

    • Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      You must have missed news reports about Jill berating people for not getting Joe off the stage and letting him continue to ramble. Biden is rarely put in positions where he comes into direct contact with the American people. Why is that?

      As far as inflation:

      “Corporate profits drove 53% of inflation during the second and third quarters of 2023 and more than one-third since the start of the pandemic, the report found, analyzing Commerce Department data. That’s a massive jump from the four decades prior to the pandemic, when profits drove just 11% of price growth.”

  6. Avatar
    Jeffrey Taylor

    Thank goodness for spring training starting.
    Joke:
    A pitcher goes to the team doctor, complaining that he suddenly can’t hear out of one ear.
    The doctor takes a look, and says “You have a suppository stuck in your ear!”
    And the pitcher says, “Oh…. well, now I know what happened to that PitchCom earpiece.”

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