Thank you so much! Absolutely honored. A bit more information about the poster: it’s based on Nixon’s 1968 “Nixon’s The One” campaign poster. (Link below). The background is a composite of images from the ‘68 DNC riots and riots we’ve seen earlier this year (and will see again at the ‘24 convention.)
Still finalizing details, but the most likely thing is that these will be 18x24 posters printed on archival-quality heavyweight paper and will sell for $25. They will be accompanied by a half-page card that contains a chart detailing everyone depicted in the poster as well as a bit of the design inspiration. Additionally, Snek campaign buttons (2.25” diameter) will be available for $5. Those buttons are based on Bobby Kennedy’s ‘68 campaign buttons.
For people who can’t attend in Chicago, I’ll be making the designs available after the event.
It seemed like Matt pulled some punches. What with the adjustments to the analysis of her voting record or the whole revisionism of the term "border czar". The age thing is the only gaslighting recognizable (just barely) as such within the precincts of the MSM.
NO judgement; if it were me I would not have said as much.
I kept on expecting matt to be silenced, have his mike cut off, or talked over by another panelist.
Thankfully I recently googled the “laughter curve” (blame Heaton’s pronunciation and background train noise) or I would be stopping everything to disappointingly google what you seem to be implying is a bodacious economist
Matt, I gotta tell you, whatever it is in the way you verbally break things down in your commentary really works for how my brain operates. I rarely - depending usually on the number of drinks either of us has had - have to sift through nuance or wonder what you meant, and only sometimes have to pull up the Google if you drop a name I don't know. With all the snippets and overwhelming amounts of information out there, I truly appreciate your communication style. So thanks for that.
On the Vance clip: Great, great talk. You guys really got into the optics without getting into optics weeds, if that makes sense. In one part, there is a comment about youth not wanting kids. It reminded me of the current running joke about youth not having a lot of sex. In my mind, it's kind of hard to publically push for more kids and at the same time remove the safety net of birth control and abortion. I would think they'd know that those initiatives may drive our kids even further away from the thing that makes the babies happen; the fact that it's somewhat acceptable to eschew sex for other interests makes this talking point even more confusing.
I know for me it goes to the "why" - why the drive for all the people to have all the kids? It's clear that family values are no longer a staple in our leaders' personal histories - "loving the Christians" is stale, for example. In our current climate, I can see why GenZ is reluctant. Besides the notable self-absorption, they have watched many of their parents struggle their parenting years away even when making what should be a livable amount of money - and that's just one element. Drops in church-going, drops in home purchasing, etc., etc. all lead to the same understandable end for many youth. Fuck kids, do me.
Sidenote: Maher must be a little pissed off that he's on a break after one of his ride-or-die personal issues has come up so hard this week. The ire he would've brought, what a lost opportunity.
I wonder how Kamala feels about the Olympics? She’s a major proponent of equity, what she describes as everyone ending up in the same place. The Olympics seek out the best of the best, reward striving to be one’s best, no matter one’s race, creed or color. The best is on top, followed by second, third and so on. The Olympics represent what we should do in every facet of our lives, in society. And yet under Kamala, everyone is a winner, which is the same as saying everyone is a loser.
Honored to take the Comment of the Week spot here adjacent to TFC OG Nika Scothorne and that fabulous work of art. I'm vacillating between Wayne & Garth-like "we're (I'm) not worthy" and Sally Fields-ish "you really like me" the latter of which is a bit too cringe-y even for my circumstances.
I guess it was worth it to stay up late last night and write a term paper solicited by Kmele who's name, to my everlasting shame, was miss-spelled in my greeting (but not my sign-off) thanks to the hour & some Pinot Grigio (one thousand embarrassed apologies sir).
Do listen to Kmele's 100% apolitical Albini interview if you haven't already, the terrific things these gents do outside of TFC never cease to impress/amaze :-)
On gaslighting: according to my observations, the order of importance of discussion topics on any talking heads show/article/podcast seems to be:
1. The other candidate is evil. Here's an evil thing they did in the past.
2. The horserace (what does blank need to do to win? Was blank's choice of this person bad for their candidacy? )
3. Mentioning names of issues and assigning the label good or bad to broad positions on them with no further discussion.
734. Trying to determine what the goal of a proposed policy is and whether the implementation will work as advertised.
856. Looking back at past policies and assessing whether they worked like they were supposed to.
This is nothing new, and the last two on my list aren't exactly ratings drivers, but it would be nice if somewhere, anywhere, I could get rational arguments and disagreements on those things instead of forty identical pieces on why white women need to get behind Kamala.
Thanks for linking to Kmele’s Dispatches from the Well with Steve Albini. I know nothing of the music industry, so I had never heard of Steve Albini until you three reverently mentioned him. I thoroughly enjoyed not only the Dispatches from the Well episode with him in it, but especially, the long interview with him. It was a very thoughtful, wide-ranging, and at the end of the day, encouraging, conversation. It had me sad that the world lost this man I had never heard of. Thank you for taking the time to speak with him and share it with us. I hope you saved the conversation on analog!
For completists, here’s the full NewsNight episode with Matt and co-panelists/fellow panelists (respectfully, “fellow co-panelists” is redundant), in audio form…on a video platform:
Oh, and Kmele appeared on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live, debating the topic of racial politics in the presidential campaign. This short clip is the only one I can find.
Will we get a new episode featuring the lads this week? I believe this is one Matt Welch’s birthday week if the tubes are not mistaken. Remember Matt, don’t step on cake! (or should I say ‘cek’?)
Love the poster!!!! Personally don’t care about anything Taibbi has to say these days. I honestly feel gaslit that he’s become such a MAGA shill! If anyone can point me to any post where he isn’t exclusively ragging on Dems with old scraggly voice, Walter Kirn, I’m all ears! Again, Harris isn’t ideal, I’d prefer an open democratic convention, but it is what it is at this point. Neither side really cares about democracy these days, but I don’t think Dems had any other choice than to ditch Biden!
Being exclusively critical of one side just makes the journalist look like a partisan hack and that’s exactly what Taibbi has become. I have a long history of reading Taibbi that goes back as far as when he used to write alongside Mark Ames and also Rolling Stone!
His whole politics now is “Dems bad.” He used to be a respectable journalist back in the day, it’s depressing seeing what he’s become! Please show me an article where he says anything affirming about Democrats in recent memory, I’ll wait! Biden has had some of the most pro-labor politics in decades and it’s just endless skepticism from Taibbi. I smell a rat and it smells like Donald Trump’s dick cheese. We can just agree to disagree!
You support democrats, and that’s fine (weird, but fine). That doesn’t mean a journalist doing solid reporting on the many failings of that party — the one currently in power, with massive support from the media establishment and Hollywood — is doing so in the service of the other party. That’s an interpretation that comes from binary thinking. “Matt, what happened to you?” could be a meme at this point.
If it’s criticism of Trump that you crave, you’ll have no trouble finding it. It’s everywhere.
Im actually a grateful split ticket voter (lean Dem) and have been for years. I really just hate Trump and that he’s turned our politics into pissing contests! Love that you’re able to just put me into a box as a Dem because I’m skeptical of the partisan hackery of Taibbi and that you are not able to see Taibbi objectively says way more about you than it does about me!
It’s not worth hating a politician. It’s also absolutely cringeworthy when people say they “love” them. Politics is basically pro wrestling, but it shouldn’t inspire the same passion. For one thing, wrestlers tend to be good at their jobs.
If you feel that strongly about a public figure, you’re being manipulated. I suggest saving those emotions for people you actually know.
This X post by Hannah Cox very nicely sums up how one should approach politics and the news:
Well stated by Hannah! Perhaps oversimplified but not necessarily wrong. As for Taibbi, why does it matter to anyone what the balance of his reporting is or on where he's focusing criticism? It's kind of like being mad at a dentist for not doing enough work as a cardiologist. The only question that really matters is if he's upholding journalistic integrity and seeking the truth with his work. Each time he writes a piece (or corrects something he's written before), this is the basis of judgement. People are so eager to jump all over him as a MAGA shill but then have very little evidence to support it
So not slurping down the stupid lies the MSM and Dems are handing out makes one a shill now? I actually agree I wish Taibii was a bit less monomaniacal. But he has a great pint. That there are 100 people working on “trump is bad” stories for every one looking into the received wisdom of the establishment and corporate America (yes that means your precious dems).
Thank you! I can’t speak to the rest of the merch, but I will be making a version of the poster graphic (and possibly accompanying button) available for download after the live event.
I didn’t mind the Crazy Cat lady thing. It makes sense that maybe you should have a stake in the future if you are spending a country into trillions of debt, starting a war made of non-kitten soldiers (kitten warriors would be freaking awesome as they never sleep and my whole family is covered in scratches), and attempting to prevent the AI takeover of the human race. However, having a child doesn’t mean you make any of the right decisions (Biden). I like that JD is thinking outside the box and someone should mention my kitten army idea to him so we can swiftly change the conversation to something cooler and more inclusive of my cat mom friends.
About 20% of people, roughly 11% women, will have reproductive troubles in the U.S., and that's besides the people who just decide that kids are not right for them. I'm not sure it's a good idea to generate this kind of concern around childless people just to prove that Harris is likely to be a bad President. It's a good way to alienate a bunch of people who otherwise might vote for you. All the while there is plenty of merit based political arguments about why Kamala, and not some stereotype, wouldn't make a good POTUS.
Appreciate the comments but you may want to listen to the context of his statement. If you are busy, this pod can help. It’s a cleanup episode, with good points, but I wonder why his defense wasn’t anything I said…it’s bc Trump was a spender too (even excluding COVID). It’s our burden that the cheap beads of a Mardi Gras parade keep hitting us in the face and, weirdly, surprised. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-megyn-kelly-show/id1532976305?i=1000663462746
Context or no, it's not a good idea to malign an entire group of people just to attack one in particular. The fact that we now have to have entire conversations about the context of his statement is proof that it's a bad tactic that has had no real effect at taking any votes from her. It's a great talking point for a base that is already going to vote for you, to discuss in their echo chambers. But at the end of the day it's also just rhetoric, as George Washington didn't have any kids either, and he was deeply invested in the future of his country. It would be a huge part of his legacy after all.
That said, I get that the left is taking this out of context, and not only is that their right, but it's also why Vance simply should not have made a statement based on a stereotype. She has a couple of decades at least of public service to go after, there is absolutely no reason to lump her into a category of "crazy cat ladies" who otherwise might actually be willing to vote for a Trump/Vance ticket. It's similar to what Hillary did when she maligned Trump voters as a "basket of deplorables". While that should have been safer for her to do, it really wasn't a good look for undecided voters that she was willing to spend time, and effort on making judgements about stereotypes.
Thank you so much! Absolutely honored. A bit more information about the poster: it’s based on Nixon’s 1968 “Nixon’s The One” campaign poster. (Link below). The background is a composite of images from the ‘68 DNC riots and riots we’ve seen earlier this year (and will see again at the ‘24 convention.)
Still finalizing details, but the most likely thing is that these will be 18x24 posters printed on archival-quality heavyweight paper and will sell for $25. They will be accompanied by a half-page card that contains a chart detailing everyone depicted in the poster as well as a bit of the design inspiration. Additionally, Snek campaign buttons (2.25” diameter) will be available for $5. Those buttons are based on Bobby Kennedy’s ‘68 campaign buttons.
For people who can’t attend in Chicago, I’ll be making the designs available after the event.
Look forward to meeting people there!!
Edit: Forgot to post the link to the Nixon inspiration poster: https://store.nixonfoundation.org/products/nixons-the-one-poster-2
I'm stoked to own one of them!
Can't wait to meet you!!
Very cool
Outstanding work!
Mr. Welch, that CNN statement on being gaslit was courageous and beautiful.
It seemed like Matt pulled some punches. What with the adjustments to the analysis of her voting record or the whole revisionism of the term "border czar". The age thing is the only gaslighting recognizable (just barely) as such within the precincts of the MSM.
NO judgement; if it were me I would not have said as much.
I kept on expecting matt to be silenced, have his mike cut off, or talked over by another panelist.
Appeasement for access is a major threat to a truly free press
For the record, I was not accusing our fearless and paramount leader matt PBUH (long may he reign), of appeasement.
I didn’t think you did.
Thankfully I recently googled the “laughter curve” (blame Heaton’s pronunciation and background train noise) or I would be stopping everything to disappointingly google what you seem to be implying is a bodacious economist
I googled "laughter curve" and felt stupid when laffer curve came up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve
Matt, I gotta tell you, whatever it is in the way you verbally break things down in your commentary really works for how my brain operates. I rarely - depending usually on the number of drinks either of us has had - have to sift through nuance or wonder what you meant, and only sometimes have to pull up the Google if you drop a name I don't know. With all the snippets and overwhelming amounts of information out there, I truly appreciate your communication style. So thanks for that.
On the Vance clip: Great, great talk. You guys really got into the optics without getting into optics weeds, if that makes sense. In one part, there is a comment about youth not wanting kids. It reminded me of the current running joke about youth not having a lot of sex. In my mind, it's kind of hard to publically push for more kids and at the same time remove the safety net of birth control and abortion. I would think they'd know that those initiatives may drive our kids even further away from the thing that makes the babies happen; the fact that it's somewhat acceptable to eschew sex for other interests makes this talking point even more confusing.
I know for me it goes to the "why" - why the drive for all the people to have all the kids? It's clear that family values are no longer a staple in our leaders' personal histories - "loving the Christians" is stale, for example. In our current climate, I can see why GenZ is reluctant. Besides the notable self-absorption, they have watched many of their parents struggle their parenting years away even when making what should be a livable amount of money - and that's just one element. Drops in church-going, drops in home purchasing, etc., etc. all lead to the same understandable end for many youth. Fuck kids, do me.
Sidenote: Maher must be a little pissed off that he's on a break after one of his ride-or-die personal issues has come up so hard this week. The ire he would've brought, what a lost opportunity.
I wonder how Kamala feels about the Olympics? She’s a major proponent of equity, what she describes as everyone ending up in the same place. The Olympics seek out the best of the best, reward striving to be one’s best, no matter one’s race, creed or color. The best is on top, followed by second, third and so on. The Olympics represent what we should do in every facet of our lives, in society. And yet under Kamala, everyone is a winner, which is the same as saying everyone is a loser.
The opening ceremony featured many drag queens, I’m sure she loved that...
https://youtube.com/shorts/l_PveSHEyus?feature=shared
Honored to take the Comment of the Week spot here adjacent to TFC OG Nika Scothorne and that fabulous work of art. I'm vacillating between Wayne & Garth-like "we're (I'm) not worthy" and Sally Fields-ish "you really like me" the latter of which is a bit too cringe-y even for my circumstances.
I guess it was worth it to stay up late last night and write a term paper solicited by Kmele who's name, to my everlasting shame, was miss-spelled in my greeting (but not my sign-off) thanks to the hour & some Pinot Grigio (one thousand embarrassed apologies sir).
Do listen to Kmele's 100% apolitical Albini interview if you haven't already, the terrific things these gents do outside of TFC never cease to impress/amaze :-)
On gaslighting: according to my observations, the order of importance of discussion topics on any talking heads show/article/podcast seems to be:
1. The other candidate is evil. Here's an evil thing they did in the past.
2. The horserace (what does blank need to do to win? Was blank's choice of this person bad for their candidacy? )
3. Mentioning names of issues and assigning the label good or bad to broad positions on them with no further discussion.
734. Trying to determine what the goal of a proposed policy is and whether the implementation will work as advertised.
856. Looking back at past policies and assessing whether they worked like they were supposed to.
This is nothing new, and the last two on my list aren't exactly ratings drivers, but it would be nice if somewhere, anywhere, I could get rational arguments and disagreements on those things instead of forty identical pieces on why white women need to get behind Kamala.
Nika's graphic design prowess kinda put my t-shirt design in its place 😂
🥰🥰🥰
Thanks for linking to Kmele’s Dispatches from the Well with Steve Albini. I know nothing of the music industry, so I had never heard of Steve Albini until you three reverently mentioned him. I thoroughly enjoyed not only the Dispatches from the Well episode with him in it, but especially, the long interview with him. It was a very thoughtful, wide-ranging, and at the end of the day, encouraging, conversation. It had me sad that the world lost this man I had never heard of. Thank you for taking the time to speak with him and share it with us. I hope you saved the conversation on analog!
For completists, here’s the full NewsNight episode with Matt and co-panelists/fellow panelists (respectfully, “fellow co-panelists” is redundant), in audio form…on a video platform:
https://youtu.be/Q-mA0KbB5_E?feature=shared
Pretend it’s a podcast.
Speaking of podcasts, the mighty Andrew Heaton interviewed Matt Taibbi for The Political Orphanage:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jHH9rQAdmb7tli8v0Mhzx
A good conversation.
Oh, and Kmele appeared on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live, debating the topic of racial politics in the presidential campaign. This short clip is the only one I can find.
https://youtu.be/CNClRr21Haw?feature=shared
Will we get a new episode featuring the lads this week? I believe this is one Matt Welch’s birthday week if the tubes are not mistaken. Remember Matt, don’t step on cake! (or should I say ‘cek’?)
MM is galavanting around Italy, Tom Ripley- style (I assume), so I wouldn't expect anything until he's back.
Sounds like Selina Meyer was an inspiration.
Love the poster!!!! Personally don’t care about anything Taibbi has to say these days. I honestly feel gaslit that he’s become such a MAGA shill! If anyone can point me to any post where he isn’t exclusively ragging on Dems with old scraggly voice, Walter Kirn, I’m all ears! Again, Harris isn’t ideal, I’d prefer an open democratic convention, but it is what it is at this point. Neither side really cares about democracy these days, but I don’t think Dems had any other choice than to ditch Biden!
Can you point me to any post where Taibbi expresses support for MAGA?
Related:
https://substack.com/@taibbi/note/c-52686860?r=7ep5l&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Here’s my issue with Taibbi from Jonathan Chait https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/matt-taibbi-why-republican-trump-left-wing.html
Being exclusively critical of one side just makes the journalist look like a partisan hack and that’s exactly what Taibbi has become. I have a long history of reading Taibbi that goes back as far as when he used to write alongside Mark Ames and also Rolling Stone!
Jonathan Chait is a moron.
Yes. He’s typically a swing and a miss!
He swings and misses here, too.
Tell me more!
Didn’t you just describe 97% of journalists?
His whole politics now is “Dems bad.” He used to be a respectable journalist back in the day, it’s depressing seeing what he’s become! Please show me an article where he says anything affirming about Democrats in recent memory, I’ll wait! Biden has had some of the most pro-labor politics in decades and it’s just endless skepticism from Taibbi. I smell a rat and it smells like Donald Trump’s dick cheese. We can just agree to disagree!
Taibbi’s comment explains his ethos quite well.
You support democrats, and that’s fine (weird, but fine). That doesn’t mean a journalist doing solid reporting on the many failings of that party — the one currently in power, with massive support from the media establishment and Hollywood — is doing so in the service of the other party. That’s an interpretation that comes from binary thinking. “Matt, what happened to you?” could be a meme at this point.
If it’s criticism of Trump that you crave, you’ll have no trouble finding it. It’s everywhere.
Im actually a grateful split ticket voter (lean Dem) and have been for years. I really just hate Trump and that he’s turned our politics into pissing contests! Love that you’re able to just put me into a box as a Dem because I’m skeptical of the partisan hackery of Taibbi and that you are not able to see Taibbi objectively says way more about you than it does about me!
It’s not worth hating a politician. It’s also absolutely cringeworthy when people say they “love” them. Politics is basically pro wrestling, but it shouldn’t inspire the same passion. For one thing, wrestlers tend to be good at their jobs.
If you feel that strongly about a public figure, you’re being manipulated. I suggest saving those emotions for people you actually know.
This X post by Hannah Cox very nicely sums up how one should approach politics and the news:
https://x.com/hannahdcox/status/1812874779994517966?s=46&t=X85I0ArZGDuiQPQElkx4vA
Well stated by Hannah! Perhaps oversimplified but not necessarily wrong. As for Taibbi, why does it matter to anyone what the balance of his reporting is or on where he's focusing criticism? It's kind of like being mad at a dentist for not doing enough work as a cardiologist. The only question that really matters is if he's upholding journalistic integrity and seeking the truth with his work. Each time he writes a piece (or corrects something he's written before), this is the basis of judgement. People are so eager to jump all over him as a MAGA shill but then have very little evidence to support it
Dude. MT has been peerless as an investigative journalist for years. Don't lose sight of the forest because you're staring at some big orange tree.
So not slurping down the stupid lies the MSM and Dems are handing out makes one a shill now? I actually agree I wish Taibii was a bit less monomaniacal. But he has a great pint. That there are 100 people working on “trump is bad” stories for every one looking into the received wisdom of the establishment and corporate America (yes that means your precious dems).
Incredible poster. Matt, how do us non-Chicagolanders get our grubby paws on some TFC merch?
Bootleg merch will be for sale and sending if anything is left over after the show!
Thank you! I can’t speak to the rest of the merch, but I will be making a version of the poster graphic (and possibly accompanying button) available for download after the live event.
“You’re a little weird”. 😂
he rolled with that shade pretty quickly and pretty well by embracing it, but i thought her comment was weird.
It was great!
She didn’t like that he wasn’t spewing the same nonsense narratives as everyone else.
For those without a strong stomach; time stamp?
Please and thank you.
I didn’t mind the Crazy Cat lady thing. It makes sense that maybe you should have a stake in the future if you are spending a country into trillions of debt, starting a war made of non-kitten soldiers (kitten warriors would be freaking awesome as they never sleep and my whole family is covered in scratches), and attempting to prevent the AI takeover of the human race. However, having a child doesn’t mean you make any of the right decisions (Biden). I like that JD is thinking outside the box and someone should mention my kitten army idea to him so we can swiftly change the conversation to something cooler and more inclusive of my cat mom friends.
About 20% of people, roughly 11% women, will have reproductive troubles in the U.S., and that's besides the people who just decide that kids are not right for them. I'm not sure it's a good idea to generate this kind of concern around childless people just to prove that Harris is likely to be a bad President. It's a good way to alienate a bunch of people who otherwise might vote for you. All the while there is plenty of merit based political arguments about why Kamala, and not some stereotype, wouldn't make a good POTUS.
Appreciate the comments but you may want to listen to the context of his statement. If you are busy, this pod can help. It’s a cleanup episode, with good points, but I wonder why his defense wasn’t anything I said…it’s bc Trump was a spender too (even excluding COVID). It’s our burden that the cheap beads of a Mardi Gras parade keep hitting us in the face and, weirdly, surprised. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-megyn-kelly-show/id1532976305?i=1000663462746
Context or no, it's not a good idea to malign an entire group of people just to attack one in particular. The fact that we now have to have entire conversations about the context of his statement is proof that it's a bad tactic that has had no real effect at taking any votes from her. It's a great talking point for a base that is already going to vote for you, to discuss in their echo chambers. But at the end of the day it's also just rhetoric, as George Washington didn't have any kids either, and he was deeply invested in the future of his country. It would be a huge part of his legacy after all.
That said, I get that the left is taking this out of context, and not only is that their right, but it's also why Vance simply should not have made a statement based on a stereotype. She has a couple of decades at least of public service to go after, there is absolutely no reason to lump her into a category of "crazy cat ladies" who otherwise might actually be willing to vote for a Trump/Vance ticket. It's similar to what Hillary did when she maligned Trump voters as a "basket of deplorables". While that should have been safer for her to do, it really wasn't a good look for undecided voters that she was willing to spend time, and effort on making judgements about stereotypes.
Endorse