21 Comments

Even though she didn't make a Firehose appearance this week, for as much flack as she gets here, we should give FotFC Megyn a shoutout. She completely eviscerated other FotFCer Bill Maher on his show this week. You'd think with the home turf advantage and his target being Trump Maher would have had it easy, but he fumbled big time against a focused Megyn.

P.S. And as always a big shout out to Nancy Rommelmann's hair for...well you know just reasons.

Expand full comment

Honestly woulda, but was running out of time & forgot!

Expand full comment

What with the necessity of acknowledging Fernando, I can see how some things would be left out. 💔

Expand full comment

I'm so glad you brought this up! I've loved Bill Maher for a very long time, yet I've been disappointed the last couple of weeks because he selected guests who pretty much agree for the panel. Megyn was indeed terrific as an opener, and I bet she and Van Jones (I also appreciate him) would have been good together. We could have learned something and been entertained by their disagreements. It's those kind of conversations that usually make Real Time lively! But Van Jones and the Colorado governor as a follow up to Joe Scarborough and Mark Cuban? While it's not quite The View, it's not up to Real Time's usual standards.

Expand full comment

The truth about the Unpopulist/Bulwark folks is that they are just Democrats now. There's nothing wrong with that. Some of my best friends are Democrats. I just wish they'd be honest about it. They are Democrats and they don't like Reason because they want it to be a Democrat magazine. Instead they pretend that they are the REAL libertarians/conservatives and we double haters are secret authoritarians.

Expand full comment

In terms of The Bulwark crowd, once a partisan hack, always a partisan hack.

Expand full comment

I lived in Bend, OR in 1999, saving money for a trip to France to shuffle around and visit a couple of friends in Balazuc. I knew several people who made the drive to Seattle to "fight the good fight".

Sidenote: Does Nancy ever not look adorable, like ever?

Expand full comment

Dancing AND screwing ?! In this economy ?! It’s gonna be tough, but I’ll try 🫡

Expand full comment

Shikha Dalmia: "Reason’s pre-election cover feature in 2020 paired 'The Case Against Trump' with 'The Case Against Biden,' implying that both men posed equal but different threats to its principles"

I'm sorry, does she *not* expect REASON MAGAZINE to make a case against Biden? What the hell are we even talking about here? Also did she even read beyond those headlines? Because there's no indication she did.

Expand full comment

If someone could help me resolve my confusion about Glenn Loury, I'd appreciate it.

How can I square the super-intelligent, nuanced, wonderfully-read Glenn Loury I thought I knew with the person espousing smokin' hot takes on the "genocide" perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the appropriateness of comparisons between Israel and (take your pick of) apartheid South Africa and the Jim Crow south?

Expand full comment

Have you read his autobiography? I'm not certain that it will clear things up, but maybe just a little.

Expand full comment

I have it on my self but haven’t read yet.

Expand full comment

At the risk of being gauche, the album version of “Young Americans” is better than any live one I’ve heard.

Expand full comment

It’s an amazing recording!

Expand full comment

Dammit Matt. Young Americans is too good a choice for this melancholy week, I want to feel optimistic but "where have all Papa's heros gone?" really got to me just wondering what my own old school Dem father might think of the mess we've made of things in his absence. Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down & cry indeed. Times are rough when I gotta turn to Prince saying "Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb?" to cheer myself up but it's got a good beat and you can dance to it

Expand full comment

As we panic over the prospect of imminent disaster--electoral, nuclear, or otherwise--let's please take a collective breath before we run out and lynch the DJ over their preference for saccharine pop songs. We'll always have Brat Summer, after all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMykYSQaG_c

Expand full comment

Also this firehose is chocked full of good things: Great to see MM in Airmail, I always read what Ethan Strauss writes, and I will read Kessler's article about his grandfather's book, thanks. There is a great 2022 YA historical novel about the brutal regime & fall of Ceaușescu told through the eyes of teens, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

Expand full comment

I’m so glad they got the lavalier mics figured out at free press, I had to remaster Michael’s episode with Pesca myself

Expand full comment

I really like and respect Jonah G and subscribe to his dispatch media but the quote in here is almost incomprehensible. I have no idea what he said and I think I actually heard him say it on his podcast too.

Much love to Nancy tho!

Expand full comment

Hoping that the next members only podcast includes a discussion of Shikha Dalmia's article in The Bulwark. Add it to the docket, Kmele!

Expand full comment