So he chooses to romanticize* one ancient city vs. another. Silly, ahistorical comparisons.
*Unfortunate choice of words there
@Faizal_Ali has already provided helpful additional context for the remarks, so I will go directly to what I believe is the heart of the matter. My interpretation of Prime Minister Carney’s comparison—while leaving aside for now whether his analogy is truly apt and historically accurate—would be:
(1) Athens was a cradle of democracy, an orderly rule-driven society, and one of rich traditions of high culture, the arts, and intellectual attainments (especially philosophers.)
(2) Rome was a thuggish empire which brutishly dominated its world for centuries—but recognized the superiority of Greek culture and even language. Those Romans who could afford to buy them tended to have Greek slaves as tutors for their children. (Status symbol.)
(3) Rome was more powerful in sheer domination but the Greeks were more influential, then and now, in terms of superiority of culture and “higher ideals.”
With these ideas as backdrops, the Prime Minister was basically saying: The USA is much bigger and much more powerful but we are the good guys—and the more mature and reflective adults in the room.
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Yeah, but they killed Socrates.
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GOP response to fears that people will die as a result of Medicaid cuts:
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Ernst’s response to the controversy over her remark. It is worse than you imagine:
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Wow. All I can say is Wow…
Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.[1]
WTF?
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Man with a remark like that on that topic she must feel quite protected from her constituents, considering the widespread gun culture in the US. While I don’t endorse vigilante violence I certainly won’t be shedding any tears if some nutter decides to go Luigi Mangione on her ass.
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Well, we’re all going to die, right? The only difference is some then enjoy eternal life with Jesus.
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Her attitude reminds me of Trump bragging that he could murder someone on the street and he wouldn’t lose any popularity. Likewise, her follow-up has all been about doubling-down and showing off. So my hope is that this over-confidence in trying to appeal to MAGA followers will backfire. I see some evidence of that where I am—of even some MAGA people being shocked—but, of course, it may just blow over.
Of course, a major problem is that MAGA people (and many others) only see their own echo chamber of news. So, for example, the craziness of Trump reposting “Biden was executed in 2020 and was replaced by a clone and/or robot.” isn’t covered much on right-wing media—even though Trump’s original post was on Truth Social. (BTW: I don’t think Trump understands what the word “clone” means. I think he assumes that a “clone” is just a “copy” and so a robot can be a copy/clone.) That Biden-clone story should have been a lead on evening broadcast TV network news but they are ALL going soft on him to protect for future mergers or just avoiding alienating any viewers. Yes, some cable channels covered the story but because Trump has a long history of ridiculous statements, they are no longer newsworthy.
I’m actually glad Sen Ernst is being so ridiculous and I hope more MAGA leaders will emulate her. Perhaps a critical mass of idiocy will be reached to where we can finally see MAGA disintegrate. (Yeah, I’m probably an overly-hopeful old codger. And I’m typing in spurts of intermittent bursts of energy due to pain meds and corticosteroids. But I also drop off the internet for hours due to the blurred vision the latter brings. So I’m not able at this time to participate in all the debates here.)
As to Ernst, @chuckdarwin said it well: “All I can say is Wow…” But I go ahead and babble anyway. A privilege of age. Or not.
POSTSCRIPT: I just checked the evangelical periodical Christian Post and there’s not a peep about Senator Ernst’s nonsense—even though their front page is always crowded with tons of headlines about every pastoral scandal and every “woke” offense of the day. So their MAGA fans won’t hear about Ernst’s statements.
I was surprised to read that Ernst reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard.
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I tried to research my impression that right-wing media (e.g., Fox News and Newsmax) has been totally silent about Sen. Ernst’s outrageous remarks.
I found nothing.
However, I did find the Fox News headline: “Trump shares post saying Biden was executed, replaced with clones.” (Of course, if Trump ever comments on this topic, he will surely say, “I merely reposted the tweet on Truth Social because I found it interesting.”)
When I talk to MAGA friends [and I’m using that latter term more and more loosely these days], I try to make them aware of the latest outrages which SHOULD be shocking to their Christian faith. [I use that term loosely as well. I hardly need to repeat—but will anyway—that the MAGA worldview stands in such sharp contrast and defiance of the teachings of Jesus Christ.] These friends are often totally caught off-guard and they sometimes tell me, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
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Just for the record, I’m a spry codger at the age of 72. LOL…
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Shocking headline in today’s Washington Post:
“Two Chinese nationals charged with smuggling toxic fungus into U.S.”
That’s ridiculous. He was elected twice and is verifiably home-grown.
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Or anyone with a stiff enough spine to do so, even if capable.
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has an interesting solution to the problem of tariffs increasing the price of bananas:
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I knew there would be a falling out eventually, but this is so much funnier than I ever could have hoped. Over/under on a month for Elon’s deportation?
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Also, Musk has called for Trump’s impeachment recently. If only.
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And what is the Democratic Party doing to exploit this moment of crisis for their opposition? Ah, yes. Exactly sweet fuck all. Very well, good to know the future of civilization is in your capable hands, guys.
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