You get upset when anyone fact checks you. You're supposed to be a journalist, yet you write that the Eagles were disinvited from the White House because of "racism." But the disinvitation, as evidenced by the very link you provided via NPR, was due to the fact that the Eagles organization would not promise that the team would stand with hand on heart for the national anthem. Once again, you are spreading misinformation.

My antics? What in the world are you talking about?

I too have had enough of your antics.

Why are you stalking my conversations with Noah, Ken?

I was inspired to log onto that platform with an old account I never deactivated. Seems you had plenty of disagreements with Noah. https://x.com/search?f=live&q=(from%3Asubbeck)%20(to%3Anoahpinion)&src=typed_query You were arguing with him about tipping and his supposed "commie perspective," and his last words to you were: "I don't know what you're talking about but I've had about enough of your antics, bubba" https://x.com/SubBeck/status/1638376198282567682

All I need to evaluate that publication is that Jenifer Rubin will be running it. Very easy call. As for Noahpinion, he bet me $100 that Trump would win the nomination, and I took DeSantis. And then for some reason—we'd had no disagreements—he blocked me well before the outcome was decided, thus relieving me of the obligation to pay up. I do appreciate that gift, but think I'll pass on this recommendation as well.

I'll return to a question asked by Russ: >>Isn’t all the “God” stuff a relic, more associated with William Jennings Bryan and Mike Pence?<< I don't think anyone can understand the Trump 2.0 administration, or where much of its support comes from, without paying attention to Christian nationalism, the New Apostolic Reformation, the Seven Mountain Mandate (which I've written about https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-threat-posed-by-demons ). At the moment, the Democrats have hit on complaining about billionaires and tech, but the conflict between a growing and extreme segment of Christianity and an otherwise increasingly nonreligious country is going to be intense. As for The Contrarian, those on this thread are welcome not to read it. By my lights, it's early days to evaluate it. At present, if I were to recommend Substacks (or partly Substack-based publications) my top picks would be: The Bulwark https://www.thebulwark.com/ Noahpinion https://www.noahpinion.blog/ Notes from the Middle Ground https://damonlinker.substack.com/ The Unpopulist https://www.theunpopulist.net/

Am trying to imagine how desperate I'd have to be to read even one piece in The Contrarian, which is not even named accurately. Contrary to what?

That's the way Bruce talks. Yes, it's embarrassing coming from a so-called adult. That said, I'm sure this publication will be a joke.

A week after launching, Contrarian said it had a quarter-million subscribers and over a million views per day. https://contrarian.substack.com/p/an-inauguration-to-be-proud-ofno If Democrats are "out of gas," I don't know what to call people who think "homely lesbians" is worthwhile line of commentary.

After all the homely and unaccomplished lesbians in the news, letting Los Angeles burn down etc., it's funny that Jennifer Rubin steps forward and thinks she can be the new Bari Weiss and create the new Free Press, Which one is the fairest of them all?

Readership of it will be well into the hundreds.

Bruce your article link/ratings were dated Dec 27, before the inauguration. Since then, using your same Gallup metric, latest polls show his ratings at 47%, below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953: the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings. That's as of yesterday. It will be interesting to watch them moving forward. https://news.gallup.com/poll/655955/trump-inaugural-approval-rating-historically-low-again.aspx

One of the first actions was getting rid of the Air Safety Advisory Committee. https://apnews.com/article/coast-guard-homeland-security-priorities-committees-trump-tsa-d3e4398c8871ada8d0590859442e092c A few days later we have the unitary executive posting his insight: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!!” https://thehill.com/regulation/transportation/5115658-donald-trump-dca-crash-preventable/

The question isn't about being on "Team Gas or Team Electric" it is about being on Team Freedom. By their hyper-regulating of carbon emissions the green establishment left is trying to control business, industry and human behavior. Power and control has always been the primary motivation of the left and they have no problem squashing individual liberties to reach their objective.. For those who enjoy cooking, compare cooking with a wok or a cast iron skillet on an electric stove and then on a gas stove. Actually there is no comparison. The ability and precision to control heat and the versatility of cooking techniques is far superior with a gas stove. Turn on any cooking show and see how many of the chefs use electric stoves. The answer will likely be zero.

I understand that Trump may do some things that don't seem libertarian or even aren't: threatening tariffs, funding AI research. But this week he perp walked government employees out of buildings after firing them and began initiatives to end government funding of NGOs. This makes this article seem ridiculous, at least in its timing. As Melania would say "Be Better."

Elon Musk did not grow up with his father. His mother left him and took all three kids and lived in very reduced circumstances just to be away from him. Elon would not know something because his father did.

It's a great show. Mike White is interesting. He early in his career produced an autobiographical indie film, "Chuck and Buck," about a gay man (played by white) who stalks and eventually sleeps with a straight Adonis who was his high school crush (Chris Weitz). At some point in the film he actually says "Chuck and Buck Suck and Fuck" which is the real title of this movie (though the actual mechanics are not filmed). That's interesting because it's weird - White is a gay guy who grew up in a conservative hyper-religious family. What's interesting about "White Lotus" is how it savagely skewers upper middle class white progressives. In the first season a then unknown Sydney Sweeney plays the colleg age super cunty daughter of Connie Britain, who spend all her time spouting identity politics and critical race theory she learned at school.

I suggest the tough-guy writers and commentors at this site happy at the deportations of criminals and gang members read this article or just look at the photo. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/28/colombia-migrants-trump-petro/

In mentioning that, btw, I don't mean to imply it's a particularly egregious action in the current circumstances. The many illegal actions already taken are far worse, including offering illegal severance packages. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/its-not-business-its-personal

Trump and Elon claiming to be rescuing astronauts "stranded" by Biden, is hubris mixed with chutzpah. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/28/nx-s1-5278636/iss-astronaut-rescue-spacex-trump https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/28/science/elon-musk-stranded-astronauts-spacex/index.html

"I've never heard of these lawyers so your analysis is flawed." Now there's a solid argument! But the lawyers I've heard of via one political podcast say otherwise, so they're right. Sounds legit.

I did not read all of Trump's Executive Orders, but I read many of them, including the Citizenship and Gulf EOs. I did not notice any weird formatting or child-like language, as reported here. I doubt these were hasty unread AI products. It appeared to me that these were drafted and fully reviewed in the months before the Inauguration. My conclusion is that Mr. Bateman relied on sources that gave him misinformation.

In the long list of governmental forms listed in this article there was one that was left out. ‘Pragmatocracy’. Pragmatocracy - A pragmatic representative republic form of government based on truth, knowledge, common sense, liberty, decency and adeptness. It prioritizes the rule of law, public safety and law & order. It is a reasonably regulated free market system with sensible social safety nets that incentivizes industriousness, productivity and self sufficiency and which leads ultimately to an orderly society with a smaller and more efficient streamlined government that can balance its budgets. In a Pragmatocracy all immutable characteristics are deemphasized in favor of character and earned traits such as honesty, trustworthiness, respectfulness, resiliency work ethic, unique talents, specialized skills and other aspects of a person that makes them impressive. The primitive practice of subdividing each other into racial, ethnic and identity groups which by definition is divisive and creates tension has no place in a Pragmatocracy. Instead the focus will be on what we have in common and the one thing all of us have in common beyond the country we share is that we are all unique individuals that matter regardless of our race, gender or sexual orientation. The more we see each other as unique individuals who matter and not as members of an identity group the better we will all get along and the closer we will get to living in a Pragmatocray...

This is great. please add a blusky link one of these days.

Just saw it yesterday. She was terrific.

Kamala Harris makes a surprise SNL cameo appearance on the weekend before the election and gets rewarded with a slobbery kiss from SNL and their informal endorsement. Unlike the SNL portrayal of Kamala from early in October where she was humorously mocked this appearance was a cringe inducing fawning over her by SNL which came across as contrived and particularly unfunny ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff-rqlU4ZWw...I'm sure this Kamala SNL appearance and portrayal by Maya Rudolph got Howard Sterns full approval though.. .For a minute there I thought SNL was getting back to it's roots of prioritizing comedy and being funny but I guess I jumped the gun on that. For SNL it is back to their primary objective of being left wing propagandists..

There was a time when the politically incorrect Howard Stern tested the social boundaries with his unique and edgy form of humor. In recent years Howard Stern has become a tyrannical establishment weasel. During the Covid-19 epidemic he said "When are we gonna stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say it's mandatory to get vaccinated? F--- 'em. F--- their freedom. I want my freedom to live," He said this months after the data proved that the Covid vaccine did not prevent people from getting infected or from becoming infectious... In this recent butt kissing interview with Kamala Harris he criticized SNL comedian Maya Rudolph"s mocking portrayal of Kamala saying " I hate it. I don't want you being made fun of." How dare comedy get in the way of his political agenda. What a sad pathetic stooge Howard Stern has become.

Their best album. I will never stop listening to it.

Decades ago, I was at a party in my uncle's Manhattan high-rise apartment when the building suddenly filled with smoke and we had to evacuate down the stairs. My uncle grabbed a Picasso lithograph, and I grabbed a big tray of roast beef.

Great pic of Riverrun. Really miss that place!

In college I had a bartending job at Steak and Ale. Tips were good so I always had a couple hundred bucks in my wallet. It felt good to be a student and be able to walk into any restaurant that I felt like dining at. I rarely did that, but it was still a good feeling to know that I could.

As former Friendly's waitress of the year, Friendly's is always a yes. Wattamelon roll FTW

Loved Friendly's growing up in NJ. Fribble, hot-dog on toasted buttered roll, and fries was a great way to go. I also miss the diners with jukeboxes. After a night of drinking, your party could get anything from breakfast to a hot open-faced turkey sandwich at one place at 2 AM. Diners are considered a theme restaurant here in Texas and a poor facsimile at that. I like Five guys fries but they obviously don't compare to Nathan's fries. I always thought Roy Rodgers was best quality of those chains but haven't seen one in decades and good riddance to Arthur Treachers! If you're going with fried food, why choose fish? Last time I had Ritz crackers was when my girls were young, and they would suck/drool them soggy while in their car seats. Good cracker though, when dry

Oh I see it's Booker. Is that another child? How big is your tribe?

Is this you Russ? Were you cute in your 20s too?