- The Young Republicans in those chats were not kids;
- Republicans excuse their vile comments while demonizing anyone who has said anything less than adulatory about Charlie Kirk — whose opinions were equally vile;
- Short items about demons, civil rights, mammals, lies, God’s vengeance, antifa, and health care premiums;
- Robert Reich on how he is 10 days younger than Trump, but actually years younger, because he doesn’t hate;
- And another attempted generalization about conservatives and liberals.
- And another episode in my series about “the most beautiful music in the world”: Zbigniew Preisner’s “Dawn”.
First, following up on the Young Republicans story yesterday.
Politico, 15 Oct 2025: Vance downplays group chat messages: ‘Kids do stupid things, especially young boys.’, subtitled “The vice president called the texts ‘edgy, offensive jokes.'”
Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday downplayed bigoted messages in Young Republicans’ group chats, suggesting they were nothing more than “edgy, offensive jokes.”
… The vice president suggested the real problem is the idea that an offensive joke can ruin a young person’s life.
“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said on “The Charlie Kirk Show.” “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do. And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives.”
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The problem is this.
MaddowBlog, Steve Benen, 16 Oct 2025: JD Vance doubles down, pushes ridiculous defense of racist Republican group chat
Namely,
First, the idea that those responsible for racist, antisemitic and homophobic content, including comments about gas chambers, slavery and rape, were “young boys” and “kids” is factually wrong. The Republicans in question were adults. Some are in their 30s.
Consider this pertinent detail: One of the participants in the group chat is 35. When Vance launched his U.S. Senate campaign in Ohio, he was 36. If the vice president wants to argue that he was a “young boy” and a “kid” when he kicked off a bid for statewide office, fine. But I have a hunch that’s not how he would characterize himself at the time.
They weren’t kids.
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More to the point, Vance and others are excusing the vile comments made by grown-up Republican adults, while threatening to excommunicate or all but burn at the stake anyone who says anything less than adulatory about Charlie Kirk, who apparently has become some kind of god. But at least they’re consistent with what they approve of, and disapprove of. And not the least bit ashamed about it.
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Short items.
- Media Matters, 15 Oct 2025: Calling their opponents “demonic,” some right-leaning online shows are embracing “spiritual warfare” rhetoric, subtitled “Online figures and podcasters have warned of a ‘satanic world order’ and called on their audiences to ‘fight these demons in culture if we’re going to win politically'” — These people are borderline insane. They are untethered from reality.
- JMG, 16 Oct 2025: Newsmax Host: “The Civil Rights Time Has Passed” — White supremacy, assessing its gains. Civil Rights is apparently so 20th Century.
- JMG, 13 Oct 2025: GOP Targets 1972 Marine Mammals Protection Act — Why? There’s money to be made, among commercial fishermen at least. Never mind the future.
- JMG, 8 Oct 2025: ICE Barbie Now Claims Dem Senator “Attacked” Her — Lies. He stepped forward, that was all. It’s on video.
- Right Wing Watch, Kyle Mantyla, 7 Oct 2025: Joel Webbon Tells Christians To Join ICE And ‘Make Jesus Smile’ By Enacting ‘God’s Vengeance’ on Immigrants — Have these people read their Bible? They’re exhibiting base OT tribal human nature.
- JMG, 8 Oct 2025: MAGA Host: “Portland Has Been Conquered By Antifa” — Nonsense. There is no organized “antifa” — which only means anti-fascist — movement. If Portland has been conquered, show pics, or it’s not happening.
- Media Matters, 3 Oct 2025: The masks slip as Fox propagandists reveal they want health care premiums to skyrocket — Why? Because they blame the health care subsidies on Obama and Covid, which are over. And keep lying about how it’s about health care for illegals, who to white supremacists are unpeople.
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One more piece for today.
Robert Reich, 16 Oct 2025: My aging, Trump’s aging, subtitled “He’s 10 days older than I am, but I’m years younger. Here’s why.”
Because Trump hates.
I recently had a minor health scare — not unusual when you’re pushing 80. Everything is fine, at least for now.
But it got me thinking.
Trump is 10 days older than me. He doesn’t look the model of robust health.
Even though we’re almost the same age, Trump has one big health problem I don’t have: his hatefulness.
“I hate my opponents,” he says.
Hate is a corrosive. It eats away at one’s health. It attacks a hater’s central nervous system by releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. It compromises a hater’s cardiovascular system with high blood pressure and heart disease. It weakens immune systems, making the hater more vulnerable to all sorts of illnesses. It weakens gastro-intestinal systems, causing stomachaches, nausea, and other digestive problems. It leads to difficulties falling and staying asleep. It causes muscle tensions that harm the jaw and neck, such as clenching and teeth grinding, and contributes to headaches and migraines.
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Attempting another generalization: conservatives hate liberals, because liberals challenge their eternal verities. Liberals look at conservatives as somewhat dim, and a dangerous threat to ongoing human progress.
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I may have linked this before. A beautiful track by a great unknown composer. It’s from this 1999 album, Quartet in 4 Movements.
