THE MORNING RANT: “Polite conservatism” didn’t put woke corporations on the defensive - conservative activists did; This time the target is the Big Four Accounting Firms

There is more good news in the war on woke capital – this time it’s the Big Four accounting firms in the cross hairs of 16 red-state Attorney Generals: “16 state AGs call out Big Four accounting firms for prioritizing climate goals, ESG” [The Center Square – 8/25/2026]

Many of these same conservative AGs have also been involved in the battle against the giant investment banks’ ESG policies, in which those companies betrayed their fiduciary duty with customers’ securities entrusted to them. Vanguard has already capitulated, as I documented here, and BlackRock and State Street are now playing defense.

Robby Starbuck has famously made himself the most feared journalist among C-Suite denizens. Mr. Starbuck caused a management crisis at Tractor Supply when he revealed the depth and vulgarity of its DEI/ESG programs. Facing a Bud Light-level existential crisis, the company soon made a very public repudiation of those practices. By continuing to target corporate DEI/ESG at corporations with a broad, middle-American customer base, all it takes now is a call from Mr. Starbuck to get them to start backtracking. The companies who publicly repudiated their prior DEI/ESG policies thanks to Mr. Starbuck’s activism include McDonald’s, Walmart, Boeing, Lowe’s, John Deere, Ford, Jack Daniels, and many others.

Those companies never would have retreated from pushing the pathologies of the left under the legacy conservative mindset that was worshipful of corporations while also sniffing “we don’t do boycotts.” Well, the threat of consumer boycotts is what it took to make corporate CEOs more afraid of its regular consumers than of the radical left they were kowtowing to.

Circling back to the Attorney Generals’ lawsuit against The Big Four accounting firms, here is a link to the actual letter. It is long, but the Conclusion captures the essence of it:

The Big Four’s climate commitments…conflict with core professional accounting standards of materiality, neutrality, and error avoidance. These commitments create an appearance that the Big Four have agreed to compromise their independence in favor of pursuing climate-related goals external to the audit. The Big Four’s climate commitments also create potential conflicts of interest that may violate the duties of integrity and objectivity by imposing climate-related disclosure obligations that benefit the Big Four at the expense of their clients. Furthermore, the Big Four’s advertising about their independence, integrity, and objectivity, without disclosure of their climate-activist commitments and actions to impose additional regulatory burdens on their customers, may constitute deceptive and unfair acts and practices under state law.

For now, the process is the punishment by the AGs. Each of the four accounting firms must reply to 32 questions and requests, which will require massive documentation and retrieval of historical corporate records. Here are just a couple of examples of what the woke accountants must provide:

4. Provide copies of all training materials and written guidance for auditors that were created, issued, provided, or used by your firm since 2020 that are related to climate-related disclosures and reporting in company statements, including (a) all documents related to the materiality or lack of materiality of climate-related information, and (b) all documents related to any International Sustainability Board standards or to the Bulletin.
10. Is it your firm’s position that disclosures of climate-related risks are material for every company you audit or provide assurances for? Describe your approach to determining whether such disclosures are material. Provide copies of all internal policies, guidance, and similar documents you have created, issued, or provided since 2020 to guide your auditors on this issue.

Each of the four accounting firms must also specifically explain how they can advertise to customers that they are independent, while simultaneously pledging fealty to global agencies committed to an anti-carbon climate agenda that is harmful to many of the Big Four’s clients.

Corporate America and the left-wing executives (they/them) who were so willing to shove cultural communism down our throats are in the uncomfortable position of defending their indefensible actions. Polite conservatives did not make this happen. It was activists like Robby Starbuck and conservative Attorney Generals. Much gratitude to them.

*****

Other Stuff I’m Writing About

My latest piece at the The American Spectator has been published. “The $40 Trillion National Debt and the ‘Budget Hawk’ Ruse That Led to MAGA” discusses how false-flag conservative “budget hawks” used the “budget crisis” for decades as a reason to never advance other conservative agenda items, while never actually cutting spending either.

Even worse, the “fiscally conservative budget hawks” wouldn’t even cut obvious targets of waste, such as aid to foreign despots or funding for NPR, because those appropriations were just “drops in the ocean.” However, if there was ever “drop in the ocean” spending that was a priority to the conservative base, the budget hawks suddenly found religion, and would oppose it as an unacceptable increase in federal spending. Five billion dollars for a border barrier was a “budget buster,” while at the same time Congress was still appropriating billions of dollars to the PLO, and hundreds of millions of dollars to abortion mills.

This piece is not behind a paywall. I’d be honored if you’d give it a read.

My latest piece at The American Spectator: “The $40 Trillion National Debt and the ‘Budget Hawk’ Ruse that Led to MAGA”https://t.co/cSmZMbs6dH
— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) August 26, 2026

*****

Dolly Parton

As the unofficial Opry correspondent and country music historian for this blog, and as a resident of East Tennessee, Dolly Parton’s death was an absolute sucker punch, both personally and to this part of the country.

There have been so many great tributes regarding Dolly’s charitable heart, loving nature, and amazing book of songs she wrote. I can’t add anything to those great tributes.

The only original thought I have to add to the Dolly discussion is that she also consistently made songs better when she sang tunes written by other superstars. Johnny Cash may have written “I Still Miss Someone” but Dolly perfected it.

Here is Dolly doing the best version I’ve ever heard of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Nooded.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:01 AM (NcvvS)

2 And SPONGE!!

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:01 AM (NcvvS)

3 I'd have thought the DEI horseshit had run its course by now. It obviously leads to poor financial results.

*shrugs*

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (2Cry5)

4 I see Judge Indira Talwani has issued yet another ruling stopping the Post Office from establishing ballot mail standards. This is at least her third, or maybe fourth, stoppage, despite being slapped down twice by SCOTUS. The woman is a law unto herself, divorced from the legislatures and higher courts.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (kV76K)

5 When you rent a car through Enterprise it gives you the option to throw money away on carbon offsets.

LOL.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 28, 2026 11:05 AM (2Ez/1)

6 Thanks for the recording of Dolly singing Dylan. Outstanding.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:06 AM (kV76K)

7 The Federal Employee's Thrift Savings Plan is run by BlackRock, and explicitly still employs DEI, regardless of what that means to my rate of return. Blackrock is legally able to do this, but that doesn't mean they are the only ones who can run the fund. It will not stop until someone else is brought in to run this multi-trillion dollar fund. I hope Trump orders that immediately.

https://tinyurl.com/3557yfw8

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:06 AM (Riz8t)

8 Are PwC's "thought leadership" reports still being authored by AI?

https://archive.ph/KtBlW

Posted by: Oglebay at August 28, 2026 11:07 AM (2ap+5)

9 The woman is a law unto herself, divorced from ~~the legislatures and higher courts~~ reality.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (kV76K)
----
FIFY

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 28, 2026 11:07 AM (FZ29D)

10 However, if there was ever “drop in the ocean” spending that was a priority to the conservative base, the budget hawks suddenly found religion, and would oppose it as an unacceptable increase in federal spending. Five billion dollars for a border barrier was a “budget buster,” while at the same time Congress was still appropriating billions of dollars to the PLO, and hundreds of millions of dollars to abortion mills.

It's like refusing to buy a padlock for your bike in a high crime area because they cost a few bucks.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

11
If any of those firms sell stock holding in their company,

they should have the Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwiches sued out of them for-

ignoring their fiduciary duty to their holders.

And go to jail if that can be managed as well.

Posted by: naturalfake at August 28, 2026 11:07 AM (iJfKG)

12 Willowed:

276
*banjo plays*
*singing*

Two lions are loose
in the cornfields of Indiana
The power is back on in Gary after 2 weeks
If they need lights.
Then light them lions on fire
And the cornfields'll burn
With all their might

(chorus)
There's corn inside of whiskey
And whiskey's corn inside of me
I'm the one
Who let loose the lions
And now I'm hangin' from a tree

...
...

Posted by: Another Pop Song Not About Love at August 28, 2026 11:08 AM (iJfKG)

13 I'd have thought the DEI horseshit had run its course by now. It obviously leads to poor financial results.

*shrugs*
Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (2Cry5)

It's become a core social structure going back more than a decade now. It's gonna take time. There are a couple hundred million people accustomed to this regime.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:10 AM (BI5O2)

14 Not knowing much, I sure didn't know Miley Cyrus can sing. But she did a nice job saying good by to her godmother.

https://tinyurl.com/yedn95j6

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:11 AM (kV76K)

15 The woman is a law unto herself, divorced from the legislatures and higher courts.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (kV76K)

Not so. A sufficient percentage of the legislature smiles on her actions else she'd have been removed. They use the courts to stymy good governance efforts while avoid blame, as they use enabling acts to place blame on the executive for rules made possible by the legislature.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 28, 2026 11:11 AM (ExV1e)

16 "Circling back to the Attorney Generals’ lawsuit against The Big Four accounting firms, here is a link to the actual letter."
---
I knew you were thinking about me. *wink*

Posted by: Jen Psaki at August 28, 2026 11:12 AM (cWLG3)

17 This Buck fella writes good. Who tosses around words like "fealty" with such precision?

Posted by: Illiterate, Innumerate, Sometimes Incontinent at August 28, 2026 11:12 AM (JM9I6)

18 I see Judge Indira Talwani has issued yet another ruling stopping the Post Office from establishing ballot mail standards. This is at least her third, or maybe fourth, stoppage, despite being slapped down twice by SCOTUS. The woman is a law unto herself, divorced from the legislatures and higher courts.

She and Boasberg are almost singlehandedly ensuring that the removal of rogue judges will become a major issue in '28. We know that if she was removed, the left would then try to remove judges on the right. The entire legal system is in mortal peril, all because the Dems can't win without judges assuming the right to legislate.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:12 AM (Riz8t)

19 New lawsuit

Posted by: Dark Lix at August 28, 2026 11:14 AM (Cz6Yh)

20 The entire legal system is in mortal peril, all because the Dems can't win without judges assuming the right to legislate.

But, you know, No Kings!

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:14 AM (Riz8t)

21 18
She and Boasberg are almost singlehandedly ensuring that the removal of rogue judges will become a major issue in '28. We know that if she was removed, the left would then try to remove judges on the right. The entire legal system is in mortal peril, all because the Dems can't win without judges assuming the right to legislate.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:12 AM (Riz8t)

=======

If this manifests, I think it manifests in reforms of the Judicial Act, not impeachment of individual judges.

There's never going to be 67 votes in the Senate for conviction for judges who have signaled support of one party over the other except in, perhaps, the most egregious of corruption circumstances...maybe.

But a modification to the act that makes district judges have limits on their tenure? That may be possible.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:15 AM (/PKja)

22 “Woke corporations”on the defensive?

Surely you jest, as my experiences in the trenches of woke corporations can attest.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 28, 2026 11:15 AM (jPziU)

23 I'd have thought the DEI horseshit had run its course by now. It obviously leads to poor financial results.

*shrugs*
Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:04 AM (2Cry5)

It's become a core social structure going back more than a decade now. It's gonna take time. There are a couple hundred million people accustomed to this regime.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
-------

The educational institutions are at the heart of this. All of what's happen in industry, etc., is just treating the symptom.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 28, 2026 11:15 AM (XeU6L)

24 The problem is, if I become a conservative activist, who is paying me? Do I have to finance my own activities? This is a big problem for the "conservative movement".

Go get them, tiger!

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 28, 2026 11:16 AM (SK+av)

25 Most of the Big Four issues are tied with the E side of ESG, which is Environmental. DEI was the S side, Social.
These goals happen to be opposed, but are cobbled into an alliance against [left as an exercise to the reader]

Posted by: 88C+u at August 28, 2026 11:16 AM (88C+u)

26 Wonder if Paul Ryan knows that his 'budget hawk' treachery as SotH was a major instigator of the advent of President Trump.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:16 AM (NcvvS)

27 which those companies betrayed their fiduciary duty with customers’ securities entrusted to them"

Funny. No, these firms duty is to ensure their large city employees get mega likes on antisocial media.

Once you understand this, it all makes sense

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:16 AM (j0Tky)

28 If this manifests, I think it manifests in reforms of the Judicial Act, not impeachment of individual judges.

There's never going to be 67 votes in the Senate for conviction for judges who have signaled support of one party over the other except in, perhaps, the most egregious of corruption circumstances...maybe.

But a modification to the act that makes district judges have limits on their tenure? That may be possible.

I'm not sure that would work. It seems like it would simply amplify the ideological swings we now have in elected positions. Maybe.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:17 AM (Riz8t)

29 I often could not tell if the Respectable Republicans (especially the 65+ crowd) are really that afraid of being called racists.
Or if they fake it because it allows them to advance leftist policy goals while still pretending to be Republican.

But, either way, the way they scream and run in fear at any suggestion of being called a racist--no matter how specious and malevolent the claim--is embarrassing.

After 10 years of them constantly calling Trump a racists over anything and everything, their only motivation that can remain is:
They want to advance leftist policies.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 28, 2026 11:18 AM (3cUTc)

30 Thanks for the recording of Dolly singing Dylan. Outstanding.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:06 AM (kV76K)

Too bad the mix is so muddy.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 11:18 AM (1z8ji)

31 10 However, if there was ever “drop in the ocean” spending that was a priority to the conservative base, the budget hawks suddenly found religion, and would oppose it as an unacceptable increase in federal spending. Five billion dollars for a border barrier was a “budget buster,” while at the same time Congress was still appropriating billions of dollars to the PLO, and hundreds of millions of dollars to abortion mills.

It's like refusing to buy a padlock for your bike in a high crime area because they cost a few bucks.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:07 AM (Riz8t)

Five billion dollars to the defense of national sovereignty - a legit purpose of government - is horrifying. Those other causes are just fine as they are not legit purposes of government.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 28, 2026 11:18 AM (jPziU)

32 The entire legal system is in mortal peril, all because the Dems can't win without judges assuming the right to legislate."

Hmm. I wonder if this sort of issue has popped up in, say, the past hundred years or so?

Beuller?

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:18 AM (j0Tky)

33 I just saw video of the men in Ceuta tearing up the invaders camp. Great stuff. I recommend they blast Hells Bells (turn it up to 11) in future incursions

Posted by: 496 at August 28, 2026 11:19 AM (hypP/)

34 26 Wonder if Paul Ryan knows that his 'budget hawk' treachery as SotH was a major instigator of the advent of President Trump.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:16 AM (NcvvS)

=======

The House has all the power in the federal government, if it chooses to accept shutting things down to get its way.

It initiates every budget bill. It can shut down departments as a whole through appropriations bills, send them to the Senate, and then just go home for the rest of Congress.

Paul Ryan chose to slow down some spending on the edges so that in 50 years we might balance the budget. He was a man without vision, at best.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:19 AM (/PKja)

35 They want to advance leftist policies.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 28, 2026 11:18 AM (3cUTc)

They want to run them BETTER!

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 28, 2026 11:19 AM (jPziU)

36 Related:
How much of the push to replace Americans with jeets was due, not just to save on payroll, but to boost their DEI scores?

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 28, 2026 11:20 AM (3cUTc)

37 28 I'm not sure that would work. It seems like it would simply amplify the ideological swings we now have in elected positions. Maybe.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:17 AM (Riz8t)

========

It might work, it might not.

But I think it's the only way any reform is coming to the judiciary. Impeachment is a non-starter, and I'm not sure what other reforms could make it through 60 votes in the Senate in the next few years.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:20 AM (/PKja)

38 I'm not sure that would work. It seems like it would simply amplify the ideological swings we now have in elected positions. Maybe.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:17 AM (Riz8t)

Just make it legal to shoot rogue judges.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 11:22 AM (1z8ji)

39 Impeachment is a non-starter, and I'm not sure what other reforms could make it through 60 votes in the Senate in the next few years.

And therefore this rogue judge has concluded there's no down side to ignoring the law and SCOTUS, and just letting her freak flag fly.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:22 AM (Riz8t)

40 If anyone wants to read a short account of Talwani's single handed efforts, RedState has one:

https://tinyurl.com/5y9m3xu5

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:23 AM (CtByK)

41 Thx Buck , great post.
While I read it all I could think of was the GOPe saying "that's not who we are". And that's why you're becoming extinct

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:23 AM (EZWVc)

42 I would pay good money to chuck rotten cabbages and tomatoes at Paul Ryan.

Posted by: Former Porter On The Romney/Ryan Express at August 28, 2026 11:23 AM (JM9I6)

43 Just make it legal to shoot rogue judges.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 11:22 AM (1z8ji)

Didn’t work out so well for me. I was just a hard ass. Look what happened to me.

Posted by: Maximum John Wood at August 28, 2026 11:24 AM (jPziU)

44 38 I'm not sure that would work. It seems like it would simply amplify the ideological swings we now have in elected positions. Maybe.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:17 AM (Riz8t)

Just make it legal to shoot rogue judges.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 11:22 AM (1z8ji)

========

A defined removal process for ruling on matters outside their jurisdiction.

District judges have no authority, by statute that created the district courts, over immigration matters. It's explicit in the statute.

So, something like, "The president can appeal to Congress to have Congress remove judge with bare majority votes, with required approval from SCOTUS" or something. I dunno. I'm winging it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:24 AM (/PKja)

45 39 Impeachment is a non-starter, and I'm not sure what other reforms could make it through 60 votes in the Senate in the next few years.

And therefore this rogue judge has concluded there's no down side to ignoring the law and SCOTUS, and just letting her freak flag fly.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:22 AM (Riz8t)

======

Pretty much!

But Trump is playing the long game and getting wins over time.

TPS is canceled for everyone now, despite the efforts to stop his ending of the status.

The mail in ballot thing was always mainly for 2028, not 2026. Getting it in time for 2026 would be good, but 2028 is the real goal.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:25 AM (/PKja)

46
So, something like, "The president can appeal to SCOTUS to have Congress remove judge with bare majority votes, with required approval from SCOTUS" or something. I dunno. I'm winging it.

That's an interesting thought, but then it would have to go through Justice Roberts spine of tofu. He'd never bite.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

47
46
So, something like, "The president can appeal to SCOTUS to have Congress remove judge with bare majority votes, with required approval from SCOTUS" or something. I dunno. I'm winging it.

That's an interesting thought, but then it would have to go through Justice Roberts spine of tofu. He'd never bite.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

=======

I typoed, and meant it to involve all three branches, so the initial appeal would go through Congress.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (/PKja)

48 Robert's

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (Riz8t)

49 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (ccf/V)

50 What's more terrifying these days - getting a call from Robby Starbuck or seeing a tweet from Datarepublican that starts with "Hello" and your name?

Posted by: Octochicken at August 28, 2026 11:26 AM (oCS0o)

51 3 I'd have thought the DEI horseshit had run its course by now. It obviously leads to poor financial results.

*shrugs*
Posted by: Martini Farmer

======
The Managerial Revolution by James Burnham in 1941 should be read as the correct prophesy that it is.

Brave AI Summary,
"The Managerial Revolution is a 1941 book by James Burnham that argues capitalism is being replaced not by socialism, but by managerialism—a system ruled by a new class of managers, technocrats, and bureaucrats.

Burnham posits that ownership and control have separated in modern industrial societies, allowing a managerial elite to seize power through state ownership and economic planning. He identifies Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and New Deal America as early examples of this shift, where managers control production for administrative efficiency rather than capitalist profit. "

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:27 AM (E4rtv)

52 I'm really feeling wore out today. Down, drained and just overall dumpy.

I'm sure I'll not add much to anything today.

I'm sure that shocks most of you........

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (ccf/V)

53 9/25 should be a National Dolly Parton Day.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (2WIwB)

54 Burnham posits that ownership and control have separated in modern industrial societies, allowing a managerial elite to seize power through state ownership and economic planning. He identifies Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and New Deal America as early examples of this shift, where managers control production for administrative efficiency rather than capitalist profit. "

Managerialism sounds a lot like fascism.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (Riz8t)

55 Dolly's "Trio" album with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou came out in the spring of 1987, believe it or not, long before my 29th birthday.

Here's Dolly, Linda and Emmylou singing together

https://tinyurl.com/3ry3kx7m

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (CtByK)

56 I'm really feeling wore out today. Down, drained and just overall dumpy.

I'm sure I'll not add much to anything today.

I'm sure that shocks most of you........
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (ccf/V)

Sounds like the Sponge is wrung out.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (2WIwB)

57 argues capitalism is being replaced not by socialism, but by managerialism—a system ruled by a new class of managers, technocrats, and bureaucrats.

"You're welcome!"

- - - - - Your Local HR Department.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (ccf/V)

58 What ever you think of Bob Dylan's voice, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is a great song. And that was a great version by Dolly

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (EZWVc)

59
Sounds like the Sponge is wrung out.
Posted by: Diogenes at August 28, 2026 11:28 AM (2WIwB)

I'm sure I could use a good cleansing.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (ccf/V)

60 I'm sure I'll not add much to anything today.

I'm sure that shocks most of you........

Dude! At least give us a chance to make the cutting remark!

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (Riz8t)

61 The judiciary is squarely aligned with the left. There are holdouts, but they are few. Congress has zero interest in fixing this.

It's not going to ever get resolved unless methods outside the existing guardrails are used.

Or it remains a completely biased system for one ideological group of people.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (2Cry5)

62 What ever you think of Bob Dylan's voice, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is a great song. And that was a great version by Dolly

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (EZWVc)

Whomever told Dylan he could sing should be shunned for eternity.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (ccf/V)

63 61 The judiciary is squarely aligned with the left. There are holdouts, but they are few. Congress has zero interest in fixing this.

It's not going to ever get resolved unless methods outside the existing guardrails are used.

Or it remains a completely biased system for one ideological group of people.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (2Cry5)

=======

Actually, it's the opposite.

Almost all the injunctions and actions against Trump are like a couple of dozen judges in 2-3 district courts.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (/PKja)

64
Dude! At least give us a chance to make the cutting remark!

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (Riz8t)

Fire away! Wait....cutting......En Guard!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (ccf/V)

65 One way to try and rein in judges is to fight a successful revolution, write a new Constitution, and then explicitly limit judicial authority, and make it subordinate to the legislature and executive.

It was tried once before and didn't work. But that's what beta-testing is for.

For v2, I suggest cages and muzzles for judges, when not on the job, and then 7-day liberty for them afterward. They can go among the people, eat prepared food instead of raw meat, attend concerts, and so forth. A reward for good behavior, in the kennel and on the bench.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (BI5O2)

66 Whomever told Dylan he could sing should be shunned for eternity.

Right?

Posted by: Tom Waits at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (Riz8t)

67 62 Whomever told Dylan he could sing should be shunned for eternity.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (ccf/V)

=======

Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are bad because he can't act.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (/PKja)

68 Burnham posits that ownership and control have separated in modern industrial societies, allowing a managerial elite to seize power through state ownership and economic planning. He identifies Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and New Deal America as early examples of this shift, where managers control production for administrative efficiency rather than capitalist profit. "
Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:27 AM (E4rtv)

Oh there's plenty of profit to be made. Cut the content of your product, jack up the price, inflating the "value" of the stock, which you sell before the company implodes.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 11:31 AM (1z8ji)

69
Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are bad because he can't act.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (/PKja)

But they're at least, usually, entertaining as can be.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:31 AM (ccf/V)

70 >>What ever you think of Bob Dylan's voice, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is a great song. And that was a great version by Dolly

Bob Dylan is one of two superb songwriters who should never have been allowed near a microphone. Leonard Cohen is the other.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:32 AM (NcvvS)

71 A good friend of mine is running for State of Nevada AG. Adriana-Guzman Fralick. If any Nevadans are in here please vote for her. Trump endorsed her a few months ago. Thanks.

Posted by: JROD at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (Qcqjd)

72 Burnham continues with his thesis that essentially the managers in private sphere are basically the same people running the governments. And like the actual shareholders got displaced in business decisions by their supposed managers, the same happens in the political sphere with voters/citizens and their supposed public servants of President, Congress, courts, and the bureaucracy.

Brilliant thesis proven true by events since the book was first published in 1941.

Burnham went on to write for NR back when they actually had intellectuals writing for them and published his Suicide of the West in 1964. Again predictive of our current plight as liberalism of his day turned inevitably into leftism.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (E4rtv)

73 Dylan's voice is an acquired taste but it brings a lot of his songs to life. The album Blood on the Tracks really shows that

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (EZWVc)

74 What ever you think of Bob Dylan's voice, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is a great song. And that was a great version by Dolly

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (EZWVc)

Whomever told Dylan he could sing should be shunned for eternity.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:29 AM (ccf/V)

***

In my church, the Pastor is always calling for more men in the choir. Then he points to me and says, "Not so fast Diogenes, we need you doing other things."
And I sing better than Dylan.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (2WIwB)

75
Bob Dylan is one of two superb songwriters who should never have been allowed near a microphone. Leonard Cohen is the other.
Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:32 AM (NcvvS)

*Kris Kristofferson has entered the chat.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (ccf/V)

76 where managers control production for administrative efficiency rather than capitalist profit. "

And which one of those choices answers to customers... those who pay the freight.

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:34 AM (j0Tky)

77 >>*Kris Kristofferson has entered the chat.

And Archimedes tagged Tom Waits, as well.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:35 AM (NcvvS)

78 Oh there's plenty of profit to be made. Cut the content of your product, jack up the price, inflating the "value" of the stock, which you sell before the company implodes.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

That is not profit in the traditional economic meaning, that is looting by insiders which is a very different thing. See principal (shareholder) agent (mgmt) theory and defection.

Again, Brave AI has a pretty good summary for gray box purposes.
"Defection in Principal-Agent Theory refers to an agent's decision to abandon a relationship or contract, typically driven by asymmetric information and misaligned incentives where the agent acts in their own self-interest rather than the principal's. This behavior is often exacerbated by moral hazard, where the agent takes hidden risks or exerts low effort because the principal cannot fully monitor their actions. "

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:35 AM (E4rtv)

79 The House has all the power in the federal government, if it chooses to accept shutting things down to get its way.
------
This is absolutely true, but only in a technical sense. They abdicated their authority, or refuse to exercise it. It's easier to act like spectators. America has been desensitized and trained to accept that "nothing can be done" and/or "our hands our tied" and golly oh gee, some obscure department buried in the bowels of some unknown bureaucrat office has decreed what sort of light bulb is acceptable.

When they outlawe Booze, at least they recognized it required an amendment passed by both chambers of congress, and passed by a majority of state legislators. Now? Some unelected whack job can decree what kind of oven you're allowed to own.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 11:35 AM (6LG2q)

80 The Managerial Revolution by James Burnham in 1941 should be read as the correct prophesy that it is.

Brave AI Summary,
"The Managerial Revolution is a 1941 book by James Burnham that argues capitalism is being replaced not by socialism, but by managerialism—a system ruled by a new class of managers, technocrats, and bureaucrats.

Burnham posits that ownership and control have separated in modern industrial societies, allowing a managerial elite to seize power through state ownership and economic planning. He identifies Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and New Deal America as early examples of this shift, where managers control production for administrative efficiency rather than capitalist profit. "

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:27 AM (E4rtv)

Efficiency is a bit of a stretch, but bureaucratic decay is natural in large organizations. You gain uniformity but have the following issues
1. Poor interest alignment (and corresponding factionalism)
2. Low information availability
3. Inflexible and slow to implement changes

Large franchises fix a good bit of this by having local owners function as local management.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy at August 28, 2026 11:36 AM (okun6)

81 36 Related:
How much of the push to replace Americans with jeets was due, not just to save on payroll, but to boost their DEI scores?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 28, 2026 11:20 AM (3cUTc)

Probably both, but also remember: other cultures have no problems being racist and tribal as hell. Once they get into HR, they ONLY hire members of that tribe- whatever it is.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 11:36 AM (Y/06r)

82 Not to disparage Dolly Parton in any fashion, but it seems like improving on a Bob Dylan song shouldn't be that hard.

Posted by: Octochicken at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (oCS0o)

83 79 This is absolutely true, but only in a technical sense. They abdicated their authority, or refuse to exercise it. It's easier to act like spectators. America has been desensitized and trained to accept that "nothing can be done" and/or "our hands our tied" and golly oh gee, some obscure department buried in the bowels of some unknown bureaucrat office has decreed what sort of light bulb is acceptable.

When they outlawe Booze, at least they recognized it required an amendment passed by both chambers of congress, and passed by a majority of state legislators. Now? Some unelected whack job can decree what kind of oven you're allowed to own.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 11:35 AM (6LG2q)

========

Congress abdicated its responsibilities something like a century ago.

The Imperial presidency has just grown to the point where the only power that matters is the executive branch.

But, a House run by a real bastard could do a whole lot on its own. YD for Speaker.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (/PKja)

84 > Almost all the injunctions and actions against Trump are like a couple of dozen judges in 2-3 district courts.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (/PKja)
--------
I wasn't referring to injunctions or judgements against only Trump. The bias is clearly against anything, or anyone remotely right of center. Your point about the districts/judges going against Trump is true, however.

The bias is something noticed and discussed here almost daily.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (2Cry5)

85 *Kris Kristofferson has entered the chat.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:33 AM (ccf/V)
==================
He could do just about anything, but singing might not have been his strongest point.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (sOsrI)

86 Music-wise, I'm a Tanya Tucker man.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:38 AM (BI5O2)

87 Never heard a cover of a Dylan song that was worse than the original. Only one cover of Cohen song that should never have been recorded: Bono's version of 'Hallelujah'.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (NcvvS)

88 Some unelected whack job can decree what kind of oven you're allowed to own.

As trivial an example as that might seem, it was so absurd that I think it persuaded a lot of people the government was too big, needed to STFU, and mind the things it's tasked with. You never know what will start the preference cascade.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (Riz8t)

89 Once the interest on debt outpaces tax receipts, then we default, which makes t-bills worthless and people stop buying, which then ends all government borrowing.

But our entitlement spending is "mandatory" which means we'll have no choice but massive tax hikes, which of course, won't raise the needed revenue.

Posted by: Jack Squat Bupkis at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (GD2xa)

90 Large organizations are beset by the Peter Principle, wherein people rise up through the organization to their level of incompetence and then they do great damage.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (sOsrI)

91 He could do just about anything, but singing might not have been his strongest point.
Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (sOsrI)

I believe he was the one, during his military career, commandeered a helo and flew to Johnny Cash's ranch to get him to listen to his songs.

Johnny figured anyone with the balls to fly over and land on his property without fear of getting shot deserved a listen.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (ccf/V)

92 Key positions will never be filled by anyone who isn't willing to play ball, for the most part. This has been obvious for a long time. It would be glorious, however.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 11:39 AM (6LG2q)

93 And which one of those choices answers to customers... those who pay the freight.
Posted by: man

Ideally but instead you get the managers running the company for their own incentives which is why you see them glomming onto new companies, stifling innovation, and engaging in cartel like operations to stop competing.

Airlines are a perfect example--their local hold on gates at airports as 'property' means that travelers must go through the shrunken field of airlines to get from a to b and like ancient travel, are divested of their riches to do so.

And it is killing travel for all but the well heeled. Antithesis of Herb Kelleher and SW Airlines founding which has after his death turned into the perfect oligopolistic member of the big US airlines club.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:40 AM (E4rtv)

94 And I sing better than Dylan"

So does my Shih Tzu

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:40 AM (j0Tky)

95 Never heard a cover of a Dylan song that was worse than the original.

Peter, Paul, and Mary practically made a career out of turning his nasal whining into harmonious muzak.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:41 AM (Riz8t)

96 Eh, Cohen's a dork. I don't like Hallejuah. Or much of anything he did.

But, Everybody Knows is a good song, and it has a lot of lousy covers.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:41 AM (BI5O2)

97 I, for one, am sad that companies and investment firms will no longer have an ESG score.

If I don't know that a company has a high ESG score, how will I know to not buy it?

I might have to do research!

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 28, 2026 11:41 AM (vJrRc)

98 Never heard a cover of a Dylan song that was worse than the original.

The decision by Tom Petty to make his own voice an impression of Dylan is a questionable one at best.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:42 AM (ccf/V)

99 Airlines are a perfect example--"

Indeed. The future isn't a boot on the face - it's a gate agent with it's own agenda...

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:43 AM (j0Tky)

100 >>Peter, Paul, and Mary practically made a career out of turning his nasal whining into harmonious muzak.

There's a story that The Byrds hit with 'Hey Mr Tambourine Man' was almost derailed - another band from the late 50s-early 60s was trying to mount a comeback and wanted to use that song, but there were legal reasons they couldn't release it. Then The Byrds did and the other band faded away.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:44 AM (NcvvS)

101 For v2, I suggest cages and muzzles for judges, when not on the job, and then 7-day liberty for them afterward. They can go among the people, eat prepared food instead of raw meat, attend concerts, and so forth. A reward for good behavior, in the kennel and on the bench.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:30 AM (BI5O2)

What? No duty at the Dignity Canal?

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 28, 2026 11:44 AM (g8Ew8)

102 89 Once the interest on debt outpaces tax receipts, then we default, which makes t-bills worthless and people stop buying, which then ends all government borrowing.

But our entitlement spending is "mandatory" which means we'll have no choice but massive tax hikes, which of course, won't raise the needed revenue.
Posted by: Jack Squat Bupkis

If you read economic history, outright defaults are rare unless you don't control your currency (like the EU nations), instead is a soft default of inflation that erodes the value of money to buy things. Green Nude Eel was such a shock--in essence, the Biden years made holders of US debt take a 25-30 percent haircut in the value of those bonds. We never see debt listed other than nominal but it too is deflated by inflation.

A better measure then is debt to GDP and we aren't great there but others are far worse including China, many nations in the Eurozone, the UK, and Japan.

We have the less shitty house in a bad neighborhood.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:44 AM (E4rtv)

103 >>Eh, Cohen's a dork. I don't like Hallejuah. Or much of anything he did.

But, Everybody Knows is a good song, and it has a lot of lousy covers.

Don Henley's version is pretty good.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 11:45 AM (NcvvS)

104 Once HR is captured, the company is done. They have VAST power. They can turn small issues into fireable ones. Decide who is hired and who is not.

They can OWN a company- no matter who started and runs it.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 11:45 AM (Y/06r)

105 What? No duty at the Dignity Canal?
Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 28, 2026 11:44 AM (g8Ew8

I mentioned reward, not punishment.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 28, 2026 11:45 AM (BI5O2)

106 >>>Not to disparage Dolly Parton in any fashion, but it seems like improving on a Bob Dylan song shouldn't be that hard.

Posted by: Octochicken

>We used to tune in a different FM station.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 28, 2026 11:45 AM (SK+av)

107 In a column at the NY Post, Julian Epstein a Dem calls Schumer and Jefferies " invertebrate castrato". That's gonna leave a mark

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:46 AM (EZWVc)

108 How much of the push to replace Americans with jeets was due, not just to save on payroll, but to boost their DEI scores?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice

Most of it, probably. There aren't enough minorities of any sort in the US to fill the ESG quotas for "representation"

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 28, 2026 11:46 AM (vJrRc)

109 Howdy folks, it's a beautiful day!

I think the interview went really well. I want the job more than I thought I would. Not going to stop searching until I have a firm offer in hand, they still might pick someone else. I should hear back next week. I don't know if there will be a second interview round or not.

On topic items:
Yay for AGs doing their job! More of this!

Dolly was a treasure. I have a plastic 'boot mug' that I use as a pencil holder, from when we went to the Dixieland Stampede in Branson.

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 28, 2026 11:46 AM (aJQbY)

110 @103 Concrete Blonde's version of Everybody Knows is great. Mostly because Johnette Napolitano has an awesome voice

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:47 AM (EZWVc)

111 The Byrds made bank on "Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High", the latter isn't a Dylan tune but both are corporate machine schlock with syrupy vocals and the rest of it. It is true Dylan is an acquired taste.

It took me a while to realize music is a product, a business, even something as personal as music. Never the twain shall meet, but they did get good at producing hits over the years.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 11:47 AM (6LG2q)

112 Howdy folks, it's a beautiful day!

I think the interview went really well. I want the job more than I thought I would. Not going to stop searching until I have a firm offer in hand, they still might pick someone else. I should hear back next week. I don't know if there will be a second interview round or not.

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!!!

Posted by: Kasey Kasem at August 28, 2026 11:47 AM (ccf/V)

113
These two do a nice job with Don't Think Twice:

https://youtu.be/kzzCFlMTZGU

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 28, 2026 11:48 AM (2Ez/1)

114 DEI horseshit had run its course by now. It obviously leads to poor financial results. --Martini Farmer

Sure it does, but I think the 'efficient' way to attack it has always been that it causes so much harm to those it purports to help.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at August 28, 2026 11:48 AM (zdLoL)

115 Efficiency is a bit of a stretch, but bureaucratic decay is natural in large organizations. You gain uniformity but have the following issues
1. Poor interest alignment (and corresponding factionalism)
2. Low information availability
3. Inflexible and slow to implement changes

Large franchises fix a good bit of this by having local owners function as local management.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy
======
Burnham at the time was writing as a Trotskyite. Before his conversion to conservatism. And his term of efficiency meant more that according to the criteria that the managers themselves chose, the operation of a firm was much more efficient in carrying out those criteria than allowing shareholders to meddle in professional matters.

He later wrote a book arguing that managers, public and private, would do well to emulate Machiavelli--essentially the rehashed Plato Noble Lie bullshit where only the true insiders can see what must be done. At that stage, Burnham was in transition a bit.

But it wasn't until Suicide of the West that Burnham realized his errors that the system he thought he was describing was actually full of horrors and alien to Western thought.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:50 AM (E4rtv)

116 My company used Vanguard to administer the 401(k) plan. As soon as I retired, I rolled it all over to another company that doesn’t use my money to further their political agenda. Baird and a local advisor has grown my retirement investment far better in the last 3 years than Vanguard in the previous 10.

Posted by: Advo at August 28, 2026 11:50 AM (jO4mz)

117 Who are the other two ladies on screen with Dolly in the video?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 11:50 AM (wzUl9)

118 I'm not sure that would work. It seems like it would simply amplify the ideological swings we now have in elected positions. Maybe.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 28, 2026 11:17 AM (Riz8t)

Just make it legal to shoot rogue judges.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

We could start by making only natural-born US citizens eligible for judgeship.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 28, 2026 11:51 AM (vJrRc)

119 Looks to me like the government put four corporations back on their heels, no organized "unpolilte" conservatives.

How much of the push to replace Americans with jeets was due, not just to save on payroll, but to boost their DEI scores?

Partly, but once an executive gets an idea in their heads, no matter how retarded, they will push for it in the face of all evidence and reason. Ego is involved: they cannot be wrong or admit they were wrong. Plus most of them despite being good at business are not very smart. Same with politicians, although they are mostly driven by sloth: my staffers say I should do this.

So all it took was Indian voice getting the right execs in the right places or staffers in the right place a with the right politicians and getting the ball rolling. Once its in motion, its extremely hard to get businesses to change their minds

That's the main reason the DEI thing took off; these guys don't give a single damn about it personally but they were convinced it would make them more money and get more support from politicians and bureaucrats.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 28, 2026 11:51 AM (K32Fz)

120 EZWVc)

111 The Byrds made bank on "Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High", the latter isn't a Dylan tune but both are corporate machine schlock with syrupy vocals and the rest of it. It is true Dylan is an acquired taste.

It took me a while to realize music is a product, a business, even something as personal as music. Never the twain shall meet, but they did get good at producing hits over the years.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 11:47 AM (6LG2q)

Speaking of music, I've been trying to remember the a cappella men's quartet back in the late fifties/early sixties that sang Till the End of Time.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 28, 2026 11:52 AM (g8Ew8)

121 The decision by Tom Petty to make his own voice an impression of Dylan is a questionable one at best.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:42 AM (ccf/V)

Some people have never learned to assume a pleasant singing voice. -- Geddy Lee

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 28, 2026 11:52 AM (ExV1e)

122 One of the other things that is helping to end DEI is the threat of shareholder lawsuits. It actually hurts corporate value and the activist investors led a rebellion

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 28, 2026 11:54 AM (EZWVc)

123
Some people have never learned to assume a pleasant singing voice. -- Geddy Lee
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 28, 2026 11:52 AM (ExV1e)

He's actually gotten more tolerable with age as his vocal chords no longer allow him to squeal like a pig.

Posted by: Kasey Kasem at August 28, 2026 11:54 AM (ccf/V)

124 Damn, although appropriate in the music category.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:54 AM (ccf/V)

125 Baird and a local advisor has grown my retirement investment far better in the last 3 years than Vanguard in the previous 10."

Mrs and I decided on a local firm years ago - and they regularly outperform the "national brands"

Posted by: man at August 28, 2026 11:54 AM (j0Tky)

126 121 The decision by Tom Petty to make his own voice an impression of Dylan is a questionable one at best.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:42 AM (ccf/V)

Some people have never learned to assume a pleasant singing voice. -- Geddy Lee
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 28, 2026 11:52 AM (ExV1e)

As if all the sulfurous pits of Hell were filled with kittens.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 11:55 AM (Y/06r)

127 Speaking of music, I've been trying to remember the a cappella men's quartet back in the late fifties/early sixties that sang Till the End of Time.
Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at August 28, 2026

***
The Four Lads?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 11:55 AM (wzUl9)

128 108 How much of the push to replace Americans with jeets was due, not just to save on payroll, but to boost their DEI scores?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice
========
We had someone here describe why they wanted H1Bs (standin for all foreign work visas) at their place of employment. Easy to dismiss outside of US and state employment laws. Made the books look marginally better on DEI but it might be said that DEI was as much a cover for outsourcing US jobs to uncredentialed and cheaper foreigners than it was to give jobs to native minorities.

For entry level jobs, the same goes for hiring illegals, they are easy to get rid of, cannot really complain about being cheated at work, violations of safety laws, etc.

For managers, it is ideal to have a compliant and easily dismissed workforce when any trouble happens, they can be flushed away. And the fact that local, state, and federal governments are subsidizing illegals by welfare means that they work for less.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:55 AM (E4rtv)

129 I heard a quote in a RUSH documentary that that said Geddy Lee's voice sounded like a cat with a blowtorch up its ass.

Posted by: Any better, I'd be twins at August 28, 2026 11:56 AM (2CeDH)

130 Congress abdicated its responsibilities something like a century ago.

The Imperial presidency has just grown to the point where the only power that matters is the executive branch.

But, a House run by a real bastard could do a whole lot on its own. YD for Speaker.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026 11:37 AM (/PKja)
----
I dunno.

Seems like lower-court judges believe THEY call the shots now.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 28, 2026 11:56 AM (FZ29D)

131
Seems like lower-court judges believe THEY call the shots now.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 28, 2026 11:56 AM (FZ29D)

Because the SC won't do a f*cking thing to them for overstepping their bounds.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 11:57 AM (ccf/V)

132 We could start by making only natural-born US citizens eligible for judgeship.
Posted by: FeatherBlade

Not unless you push through a constitutional amendment. And I doubt any such can be done at this stage. Same with states electing senators, etc. Unless we return to become a more homogeneous nation, fundamental changes to the rules become impossible unless imposed by victors in a Civil War (see 13th through 15th amendments).

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:58 AM (E4rtv)

133 Dolly Parton singing He's Alive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQfthEHVc4

Posted by: jen the original at August 28, 2026 11:59 AM (EiUt/)

134 Not unless you push through a constitutional amendment. And I doubt any such can be done at this stage. Same with states electing senators, etc. Unless we return to become a more homogeneous nation, fundamental changes to the rules become impossible unless imposed by victors in a Civil War (see 13th through 15th amendments).
Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 11:58 AM (E4rtv)

And also does not fix the problem. Modern liberals are going all in on not changing the constitution, but simply saying it says that which it does not say.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 11:59 AM (Y/06r)

135 Not unless you push through a constitutional amendment. And I doubt any such can be done at this stage. Same with states electing senators, etc. Unless we return to become a more homogeneous nation, fundamental changes to the rules become impossible unless imposed by victors in a Civil War (see 13th through 15th amendments).
Posted by: whig

How about approaching it from the other angle and forbidding anyone who holds foreign citizenship from holding public office?

Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 28, 2026 12:00 PM (vJrRc)

136 How about approaching it from the other angle and forbidding anyone who holds foreign citizenship from holding public office?
Posted by: FeatherBlade

Blame Scotus for a bad decision in the 1960s that allowed dual citizenship which was ahistoric and deadly to a country that claimed to base its acceptance of a creed rather than blood and soil.

No man can serve two masters.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 12:01 PM (E4rtv)

137 >>110 @103 Concrete Blonde's version of Everybody Knows is great. Mostly because Johnette Napolitano has an awesome voice

Had never heard that version. Remedied, and thanks for the recommendation.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 12:02 PM (NcvvS)

138 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are bad because he can't act.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026

***
Dunno about later in his career, but (the story goes) at the time of Terminator, Cameron originally wanted Arnold to play Reese the human soldier. Arnold declined and said he wanted the Terminator role, because he knew his acting range was limited. (Also, possibly, because it was the title role -- and because he knew that even when the machine is off screen, the audience is wondering what the hell it's doing!)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 12:02 PM (wzUl9)

139 Posted by: jen the original at August 28, 2026 11:59 AM (EiUt/)
===================
Beautiful

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (+l7X8)

140 (Also, possibly, because it was the title role -- and because he knew that even when the machine is off screen, the audience is wondering what the hell it's doing!)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 12:02 PM (wzUl9)

Banging the help, of course.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (1z8ji)

141 138 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are bad because he can't act.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026

***
Dunno about later in his career, but (the story goes) at the time of Terminator, Cameron originally wanted Arnold to play Reese the human soldier. Arnold declined and said he wanted the Terminator role, because he knew his acting range was limited. (Also, possibly, because it was the title role -- and because he knew that even when the machine is off screen, the audience is wondering what the hell it's doing!)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 12:02 PM (wzUl9)

His acting is good in a few. Terminator 2, True Lies and especially Predator.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (Y/06r)

142 As if all the sulfurous pits of Hell were filled with kittens.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 11:55 AM (Y/06r)

My kitten is actually very quiet unless he's hurt unexpectedly (someone sits on him because he hopped up on the couch too fast and got his his claws caught. I don't think kittens go to hell unless they're a special torture for bad people who don't like cats . J/K

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (rHgXV)

143 President Trump must have just finished reading this. His 11:59am Truth ("troot"?):

“The Department of Justice secured a $22 million settlement with Deloitte concerning False Claims Act violations in connection with Deloitte’s use of DEI policies in hiring and employment.”

Posted by: t-bird at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (Jl/ju)

144 Modern liberals are going all in on not changing the constitution but simply saying it says that which it does not say
-----
And claiming it doesn't say what it clearly does. It's really super duper complicated, you understand. Let's leave this stuff to the "experts" who went to Deah Old Hahvahd. They'll tell you what the Constitution really means.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 12:05 PM (6LG2q)

145 And also does not fix the problem. Modern liberals are going all in on not changing the constitution, but simply saying it says that which it does not say.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

Ignoring the law is what got us into trouble and why the left may be sorry if that is what they plan to do. And their idiotic and repulsive Resistance law based on external imported ideas of oppressed and oppressor that is absent totally in common law is simply Calvinball. That is why I predict trouble in the future as in the Spanish Civil War type trouble. Urban globo homo leftists versus the countryside.

The nightmare comes in when you realize Spain had no nukes floating around in its Civil War which would not be true of the US.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 12:05 PM (E4rtv)

146 ABC: Accuser of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky expected to recant testimony

Posted by: SMOD at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (RHGPo)

147 -----
And claiming it doesn't say what it clearly does. It's really super duper complicated, you understand. Let's leave this stuff to the "experts" who went to Deah Old Hahvahd. They'll tell you what the Constitution really means.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 12:05 PM (6LG2q)

Because The constitution is a living, breathing document, silly.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (ccf/V)

148 ABC: Accuser of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky expected to recant testimony
Posted by: SMOD at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (RHGPo)

WTF? Why? This far after the conviction and sentencing?

This seems contrived.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:07 PM (ccf/V)

149 141 138 Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are bad because he can't act.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at August 28, 2026

***
Dunno about later in his career, but (the story goes) at the time of Terminator, Cameron originally wanted Arnold to play Reese the human soldier. Arnold declined and said he wanted the Terminator role, because he knew his acting range was limited. (Also, possibly, because it was the title role -- and because he knew that even when the machine is off screen, the audience is wondering what the hell it's doing!)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 28, 2026 12:02 PM (wzUl9)

His acting is good in a few. Terminator 2, True Lies and especially Predator.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:04 PM (Y/06r)

I thought Twins wasn't bad either.

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (cWLG3)

150 How about approaching it from the other angle and forbidding anyone who holds foreign citizenship from holding public office?
Posted by: FeatherBlade at August 28, 2026 12:00 PM (vJrRc)

You’ll still need a Constitutional amendment.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (jPziU)

151 And claiming it doesn't say what it clearly does. It's really super duper complicated, you understand. Let's leave this stuff to the "experts" who went to Deah Old Hahvahd. They'll tell you what the Constitution really means.
Posted by: Common Tater

Appeal to expert authority is not wise for the left anymore as they took it behind the barn and shot it in the head and propped up a zombie Weekend at Bernies version.

The age of the anti experts is upon us and the peasants are the ones with pitchforks and torches parading up to Frankenstein's castle (Harvard) for some rough justice. After all, the creator (Harvard and the other Ivies) have unleashed Frankensteinian monsters to ravage the countryside under the guise of the doctor (professors) can do no wrong.

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (E4rtv)

152 146 ABC: Accuser of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky expected to recant testimony
Posted by: SMOD at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (RHGPo)

Accuser #10 to be specific. Accusers 1-9 are still very sure of what he did.

Posted by: J. Frank Parnell at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (pwuuY)

153 146 ABC: Accuser of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky expected to recant testimony
Posted by: SMOD at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (RHGPo)

Interesting. Everyone but the purported victims are dead at this point, right (Sandusky and JoPa?)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (Y/06r)

154 >>>The companies who publicly repudiated their prior DEI/ESG policies thanks to Mr. Starbuck’s activism include McDonald’s, Walmart, Boeing, Lowe’s, John Deere, Ford, Jack Daniels, and many others.

Goodyear is another early repudiator. I don't know how they are now, but they had some woke-DEI BS leak.

I immediately contacted investor relations and let them know I can spend $1500 on tires elsewhere if my race was a problem for them. It didn't take Goodyear long to publicly rebuke such nonsense. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (dK+Kv)

155 I thought Twins wasn't bad either.
Posted by: Chairman LMAO at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (cWLG3)

I liked it, sort of.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:09 PM (Y/06r)

156 Interesting. Everyone but the purported victims are dead at this point, right (Sandusky and JoPa?)
Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (Y/06r)

Just happened to look this up not long ago. Sandusky is still rotting in jail.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:09 PM (ccf/V)

157 My father in law was an appellate lawyer with great respect of the judicial process, but district judges today lack that respect. People like Indira Talwani to James Boasberg appear to regard themselves all too often as effecting societal corrections they individually think are needed and the Congress, for whatever reason, has not delivered. And they regard contrary rulings from superior courts as impediments, not bars to action.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at August 28, 2026 12:09 PM (5T19r)

158
Circling back to the Attorney Generals’ lawsuit against The Big Four accounting firms, here is a link to the actual letter.

*polite cough*

Attorneys General

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 28, 2026 12:10 PM (O0L8i)

159 Nood.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 28, 2026 12:10 PM (NcvvS)

160 Just happened to look this up not long ago. Sandusky is still rotting in jail.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:09 PM (ccf/V)

*fistbump on having to check periodically if well known people are dead or alive*

Posted by: Aetius451AD at August 28, 2026 12:10 PM (Y/06r)

161
I immediately contacted investor relations and let them know I can spend $1500 on tires elsewhere if my race was a problem for them. It didn't take Goodyear long to publicly rebuke such nonsense. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at August 28, 2026 12:08 PM (dK+Kv)

I stopped buying GoodYear long ago when I paid attention to Nascar and saw what a shitty tire they provided for the series.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:10 PM (ccf/V)

162 Ted Nugent posed a YT video of he and Dolly performing together on the Mike Douglas Show.

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov at August 28, 2026 12:11 PM (bX16E)

163 Don’t get me started on PwC. They were the auditors at an oil company where I worked and had some newbie who was Chinese and you literally couldn’t understand one word she said. I talked to the PwC manager and asked why they hired someone who has no grasp of the English language. Granted, the manager and I were covertly on the same conservative page so I could speak freely. She said they had a quota they had to meet. (You know you’re over 29 when it was the Big 8 back in the day).

Posted by: TxAnn at August 28, 2026 12:12 PM (SjAWL)

164 Wokeness took root because the leftists made it their business to punish businesses (heh) who dared refuse to put all their DEI LGTBSDYFSDL++++ nonsense front and center.

Businesses that weren't run by woke wankers made the (correct at the time) decision that refusing to bend the knee to leftists would significantly hurt their business, and more importantly, possibly lead to them personally suffering consequences, while they calculated that conservatives and normies would just accept it.

Now that is no longer true. At every turn wokeness is a proven loser, leading to MASSIVE losses from multiple companies.

So now wokeness is being driven underground.

Posted by: DudeAbiding at August 28, 2026 12:12 PM (setIA)

165 It's a scam of the worst kind. The left has a well oiled machine that winnows any decent people out, regardless of sex or race or any other metric. "We need more brown people in charge".

Not if they are whacked out leftist idiots. Those are culturally the only choices available. It's insidious and pervasive. They insist on keeping their pets on the reservation, that much is clear. Trump broke through the log-jam. I'm convinced they stole 2020 for precisely this reason.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 12:14 PM (6LG2q)

166 If you want to quell the worst of district court misbehavior, you require panels of three judges like in the days of old. Important cases were not heard by one judge sitting alone and federal district judges were more like magistrates at the time rather than considered equal of circuit judges--so you had circuit judges (and even Scotus judges when out of session) on the ridings to sit on panels with a district judge or two.

Put three judges on a panel where someone can squeal in a dissent, it keeps the other judges more honest. And trial judges less imperious as behaving like an asshole in a format that requires some collegiality is a good way to lose other votes on the panel (also see Action Jackson).

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 12:14 PM (E4rtv)

167 162 Ted Nugent posed a YT video of he and Dolly performing together on the Mike Douglas Show.
Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov
======
Does TJM know?

Posted by: whig at August 28, 2026 12:15 PM (E4rtv)

168
Because The constitution is a living, breathing document, silly.
Posted by: Sponge

That's really cool! Look! Right *points* here, it clearly says being a Commie is a death sentence to be carried out by vigilante justice.

Posted by: BifBewalski at August 28, 2026 12:15 PM (XqYRq)

169 Ted Nugent posed a YT video of he and Dolly performing together on the Mike Douglas Show.
----
Wha?? The 70s wasn't just a different place, it was a different planet.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 12:15 PM (6LG2q)

170 She said they had a quota they had to meet.
-----

This supposes that people are interchangeable meat-sticks. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 28, 2026 12:18 PM (6LG2q)

171 Just end American dual citizenship unless born in a foreign country by American parents. Like it used to be.

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious at August 28, 2026 12:19 PM (xvV+O)

172 Stealing Chickens

https://x.com/visegrad24/status/
2093306806269350133

Posted by: r hennigantx at August 28, 2026 12:26 PM (/+uur)

173 "The Big Four’s climate commitments…conflict with core professional accounting standards of... error avoidance."

Sort of euphemistically defines the entire Left, whose missions not only conflict with "error avoidance" but willfully court error, or rather, mendacity.

Posted by: Ordinary American at August 28, 2026 12:29 PM (F8UH0)

174 ABC: Accuser of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky expected to recant testimony
Posted by: SMOD at August 28, 2026 12:06 PM (RHGPo)

WTF? Why? This far after the conviction and sentencing?

This seems contrived.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Cancer at August 28, 2026 12:07 PM (ccf/V)

This actually lines up with the facts more than you realize. Sandusky was investigated and cleared A LOT before he was convicted. I'm not saying he's innocent, but without the context, Paterno and PSU look worse than they were.

In 1998, Sandusky was investigated by PA Child Welfare after receiving a complaint about him. The state hid an agent in the child's closet while he was alone with Sandusky, talking about their 'relationship.

The DA then fully exonerated Sandusky, saying there was no evidence whatsoever, and told Paterno and PSU's president that Sandusky was cleared of all charges.

Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999 and started the Second Mile Foundation he used to groom kids.

In 2002, Paterno reported Sandusky again, and he was cleared again.

In 2008, Sandusky was investigated again, and left Second Mile.

In 2011, he was arrested and convicted.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider: Gotterdammerung at August 28, 2026 12:32 PM (PGK1w)

175 Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999 and started the Second Mile Foundation he used to groom kids.

2nd Mile was much, much older than that.

Posted by: t-bird at August 28, 2026 12:40 PM (Jl/ju)

176 Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999 and started the Second Mile Foundation he used to groom kids.

2nd Mile was much, much older than that.

Posted by: t-bird at August 28, 2026 12:40 PM (Jl/ju)

You're correct - I should have said 'joined' Second Mile.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider: Gotterdammerung at August 28, 2026 12:45 PM (PGK1w)

177 I'd add to Dolly's perfect covers "After the Gold Rush" with Linda L and Emmy Lou H. Either the studio version or on the Letterman show.

Posted by: Snoopy (soon to be Zombie Snoopy) at August 28, 2026 12:45 PM (sFNX2)

178 You're correct - I should have said 'joined' Second Mile.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider: Gotterdammerung at August 28, 2026 12:45 PM (PGK1w)

Or perhaps, 'solely worked at'

Posted by: Washington Nearsider: Gotterdammerung at August 28, 2026 12:46 PM (PGK1w)

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