I can count the people who make a point of objecting to cancellations of people across the board on one hand. Unless that changes I’m chalking all the complaining about cancel culture up to: It happened to someone who is liked/agreed with and that’s the only reason the complainer gives a damn and is willing to label it cancel culture in the first place.

President Trump is bringing peace to the Middle East by Republican National Committee
PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS CONTINUED TO TAKE THE LEAD IN PEACE TALKS AS HE SIGNED A HISTORIC PEACE AGREEMENT WITH THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN, WHICH WOULD END AMERICAS LONGEST WAR On February 2, 2020, the Trump Administration signed a preliminary peace agreement with the Taliban that sets the stage to end America's longest war. • Under the agreement, the U.S. will withdraw nearly 5,000 troops from the country in 135 days in exchange for a Taliban agreement to not allow Afghanistan to be used for transnational terrorism. • Time Magazine reported that other components of the agreement included an agreement that U.S. counterterrorism forces stay in the country, permissions for the CIA to operate in Taliban-held areas, and details of how the Taliban's promises to reduce violence will be monitored and verified. • The deal has been called the " best chance to end this conflict ," a " decisive move " towards peace, and " the best path " for the United States. • The war in Afghanistan is the longest in U.S. history, a conflict that has killed more than 3,500 U.S. and NATO troops and cost U.S. taxpayers nearly 900 billion dollars. • As part of the peace agreement, the Taliban and the Afghan government recently began historic peace talks which would end decades of war that Afghanistan has consumed. • The negotiations will cover the terms of a permanent ceasefire, the rights of women and minorities, and the disarmament of the country's many militia groups ."

Update 16 August 2021: The above URL now results in a 404. Continuing the Republican tradition of trying to be cute with 404 templates and failing miserably at it, the page reads:

404 ERROR
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE AS LOST AS BIDEN IS
LET’S GET BACK ON TRACK

Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America
A comprehensive peace agreement is made of four parts: 1. Guarantees and enforcement mechanisms that will prevent the use of the soil of Afghanistan by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies. 2. Guarantees, enforcement mechanisms, and announcement of a timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan. 3. After the announcement of guarantees for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and timeline in the presence of international witnesses, and guarantees and the announcement in the presence of international witnesses that Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will start intra-Afghan negotiations with Afghan sides on March 10, 2020, which corresponds to Rajab 15, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 20, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar. 4. A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. The participants of intra-Afghan negotiations will discuss the date and modalities of a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, including joint implementation mechanisms, which will be announced along with the completion and agreement over the future political roadmap of Afghanistan. The four parts above are interrelated and each will be implemented in accordance with its own agreed timeline and agreed terms. Agreement on the first two parts paves the way for the last two parts.

Headline: “Hedge-Funders Have Some Thoughts on What Epstein Was Doing.”

Me: “Odds are pretty good that at least ten of the hedge funders offering their thoughts were just as much involved with Epstein as the Clintons and Trump and Prince Andrew among others so they should feel free to have several seats.

I’d be lying if I said I hoped Lawrence Lessig wins this lawsuit.

Fact is, I hope he loses, if for no other reason than I’m sick and tired of powerful guys like this go on and on about free speech (TM), and then get all butthurt when someone exercises their right to same by saying mean things about them.

Or when they go on and on about free association, (as they necessarily do when advocating on behalf of the Firist Ammendment), only to then get all buthurt when others choose not to associate with them after they defend the indefenseable.

People like Lawrence Lessig are more than welcome to defend pedophiles, taking money from same, ETC. But those defenses aren’t free of social consequences, and that’s what they’re suffering here, social consequences.

And if you don’t like the social consequences, maybe don’t defend pedophiles or taking money from same.

I would like to sincerely thank the White House for attempting to unsend an email this morning.

Granted, this latest technological oopsy wasn’t nearly as hilarious as the Javascript 404 joke fail, or the or the fake news awards server fail within thirty minutes of launch, but well, this administration and its defenders have provided so few laughs over the last three years that I take them where I can get them.

Thanks guys, you brightened my day.

The president bemoans the indiscriminate bombing of Idlib Province as his administration indiscriminately bans anyone from said province from seeking refuge from that bombing. Thoughts and prayers for all those dead civilions and their families I guess. The one person who could do something to alleviate some of the suffering for some of the people would rather play keyboard commando instead. What a pathetic contemptible weakling.

The united States tax situation is, I think, worthy of having a well-known user experience design truism applied to it. To paraphrase the truism: Don’t listen to what people tell you, watch what they show you, and then proceed accordingly. Everyone wants to pay less taxes, until it comes to their favorite, (for the lack of a better term), handout: Medicare or the military or supposed border security for the red, and supposed social programs for the blue. The only people who seem to be completely honest about their positions are the libertarians and the socialists. I personally disagree for the most part with both, but I respect their consistency. I’m thinking that, for the most part, Americans treat politics like religion, and the two are almost indistinguishable at this point. Maybe we should ease up on the holy wars, because there are enough logs for all of our eyes.

The president of the United States manages to accuse American Jews of being foreigners and of dual loyalty at the same time. This brings to mind a certain verse:

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separate among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws differ from [those of] every people, and they do not keep the king’s laws; it is [therefore] of no use for the king to let them be. (Esther 3:8).

Unfortunately, we know where this all too often ends. But don’t worry Mr. President, when the bigotry is inevitably stirred up, (as it always is after you drag out anti-semitic tropes when they suit your agenda), you’ll have plenty of supporters who will be all too willing to sweep this under the rug, as they always have. And if the stirred-up bigotry results in enough deaths, you’ll find an opportunity for another political photo opp, and probably a token to serve to cover your ass.

I’ve made a point of staying out of all political discussions as of late, but I’m looking at Twitter and seeing reports of someone who despises Trump as much as, (or more than), I do going out of their way to approach Eric Bolling at a Trump hotel to throw his son’s death by overdose in his face. I don’t care how you feel about any politician, right or left. Throwing the death of a child in their parent’s face, simply because you don’t like who they voted for or who they’re associated with is inexcusably way over the line. I haven’t scrolled much yet, but I’m sure there are people minimizing this and making excuses for it. There are no excuses which would make this acceptable, and if you’re minimizing it, you need to take a break from social media, or politics, or both, because that’s pretty damn low.

Not that I’m going to go leave this comment on the Breitbart website or anything, but there’s one huge problem with the so-called “buttering-up” strategy which Joel Pollak attributes to the president, and as someone who has negotiated my fair share of contract terms, I think I can comment on this to some degree. That strategy can work, if a few things are in place: First, you have to already possess a reputation for having an amiable personality. If you don’t have that, and you then go to the negotiation table pouring the sugar on as thick as you can, whoever’s on the other side is going to see right through that, and proceed accordingly. Second, as with any negotiation, you don’t show your hand before talks begin, and you sure as hell don’t hand over all your cards, (as the president appears to have done), before you secure worthwhile concessions from the other side. To do otherwise isn’t negotiation, it’s desperation to save face, and it usually never turns out that way. So I think it’s safe to conclude that the president, (once again) got played like a baby grand.