Peggy Noonan uses her regular Wall Street Journal column to publish what I presume is an imagined letter from a political ally of Joe Biden’s:
FROM: Charles Smith, an ambassador from the Obama-Biden era
TO: Joe Biden
Boss, happy Labor Day. Hope this finds you well. We’re still in Edgartown and fully recovered from the virus. Betty had it worse than me, but right now I’m hearing the fierce thwack of the ball as she plays doubles and I’m in the pool house banging this out, so I guess we’re OK!
We’ve been watching you closely, cheering you on. You asked me to check in when I have advice. I hesitate because I know you’re inundated. I remember seeing old Bush at dinner in Kennebunkport in ’88, and he was grousing about all his friends telling him “be strong,†“show you’re tough on the trail,†but they never had advice on exactly how to portray “strength.†He sort of comically threw up his hands and said, “What do they want me to do, punch somebody in the face?â€
So I know how it is. I’ll keep it short and describe what I’m seeing. We’ve never had a year like this—pandemic, economic contraction, cultural upheaval. Everyone has the jits. Summer’s over, they’re headed home to re-emerge into . . . what? The unknown. Normally people are kind of geared up for the fall, not bracing for it.
You’re good in the polls but I’m worried about the so-called shy Trumpers. The guys who work at the club—they don’t want to say when I ask who they’re for; it’s like they think I’ll get them fired or not give them a tip. And they know me! It’s all gotten so timorous.
I saw your speech in Pittsburgh and I have to be blunt about it, as we always are. You were strong in your condemnation of Trump, that malignancy metastasizing in the Oval, but it’s not as if people don’t know how they feel about him. He’s already vivid, I’m not sure you have to repaint the picture.
More seriously I thought there was a certain off-pointness and disconnect. I thought: This is a man with personal political problems he’s solving with words, as opposed to a leader speaking deep truth about the extraordinary problems that face us.
I think Trump got in your head with “He’s weak.†You felt you had to be what your aides tell you is the opposite of weak, which apparently involves indignation and sarcasm.
You said, in language that was seemingly direct, “Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?†Joe, no one thinks you’re a radical socialist. No one. They’re afraid you’ll bend to crazy progressives when you’re in the White House because you’re Ol’ Joe and just want everyone to get along.
I think that’s just about right. The question that VP Biden must ask himself is whether frightening moderate Democrats and convinceable independents or even never-Trumpers is a greater risk than alienating the left wing of his own party? So far he does not seem to believe that it is which lends weight to the concerns of those who are “afraid you’ll bend to crazy progressives”. I do not believe he will be able to finesse that question or remain on the fence through election day.
There is one scenario where something like hyperinflation could occur. It would be a loss of confidence in the Fed, but you could stretch it into a loss of confidence in the dollar.
Since the US government cannot leverage government debt, there is little chance of it causing hyperinflation, but because the Fed is buying private debt, it is indirectly leveraging private debt.
The scope of the QE or QE-like programs have been expanding, and there could be a loss of confidence in the Fed’s ability to support this debt. This would ripple into the leveraged assets backed by the private debt now owned by the Fed. (Hopefully that makes sense.)
But, it would result in everybody trying to dump debt assets, and that would be deflationary. It would be sudden and catastrophic. Basically, the 2008 run on Money Markets but several orders of magnitude greater.
I do not have the time, but Jeffrey P. Snider has several columns that you may want to peruse. Since he is even more long-winded than me, you may want to get a bottle of scotch.
I have to get back to work. The girls need to be put to bed, and a certain vampire is getting creepy. The underground sun looks fantastic, and the snowy stockade wood does not look like shit. Mods, can’t live with them; can’t live without them.
Inflate this bitch to the ground.
PS My wife is binge watching Japanese anime, and I had to explain to her that the female warriors get their strength through flapping skirts and stiletto heeled boots. Women, go figure.
Glory to Mankind
I thought it was the big eyes.
Somebody needs to brush up on their anime genres.
You need to learn to stop worrying and love Japanese anime (games):
1. Fire up Steam
2. Add NieR:Automata to your wishlist.
3. Wait for a sale.
4. Figure out what the hell is going on.
5. Stop worrying.
(Actually, you need to pack up and get the hell out, ASAP.)
Sorry. D&D-type role playing only. I’ve been through Pillars of Eternity 2 several times then I went back to Witcher 3. I am eagerly awaiting Baldur’s Gate 3 which goes into pre-release on September 30. I may go back to Skyrim.
You should try the Fallout series. Since it is from Bethesda, the gameplay is similar to Skyrim.
I like the combat in the Witcher series, but my hands do not work well enough, anymore. If you gave not played 1 & 2, you should try them. The Netflix series was good, and there is supposed to be another season. I am considering reading the books, but I do not think that they are all translated.
You might want to try Two Worlds & Two Worlds II.
I thought would be my last playthrough on Skyrim SE, but I am considering another playthrough. I mod my game, and after 2000 hours, I have finished the main story, Dawnguard, and their side-quests. I still have Dragonborn and 4 DLC sized mods to go.
I wanted to get another 1.5 years on this playthrough, but I am “jonesing” to rebuild my modlist. Modding is almost as much fun as playing. You should try it, and other than time, it is free.
Now, Nier Automata is a JRPG, and you should look into it. It is a strange game. You play it three times as different characters, and while it is the same story, the gameplay and perspective are different. If your hands work, there are all sorts of combo moves, but I think it is more controller oriented.
On easy mode, your character can fight automatically. I am responsible for the exploration, puzzle solving, story choices, and the character does the fighting.
2B is a female android with a flapping skirt, stiletto heeled boots, two swords bigger than her. She can jump, do a somersault in the air, and/or dash in the air. If you are a pervert, you can blow-off her skirt and look at her butt while running around, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.
If you are really down, lookup Trap Shrine, but only in case of emergency. It is on Steam, but it is not really a game.
Dawnguard makes Skyrim quite difficult. I’ve had characters essential to certain important subquests killed off by vampires. I’ve been through 3-4 times (including Dragonborn).
I loved the first Witcher game, the second was okay, and I’ve played through Witcher 3 (including both expansions) I guess four times.
This would be my fifth time. I’m taking the time to do certain subquests I never bothered with before. I don’t play at the highest level of difficulty (it’s a game not a deathmatch) but I don’t play at the lowest, either.
I thought the Netflix series of The Witcher was okay (we’ll see what they do in the second season) and the books are quite good. I read them in translation but I could probably manage the Polish. As I think I’ve mentioned before speakers of different Slavic languages just pretend not to understand each other and my Russian is good enough I should be able to read the original.
To put things in D&D terms my heart’s not in any character that’s not either Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral. That sort of limits my range of play. Geralt can be played as either. He could even be played as Lawful Good or Neutral but I don’t have it in me to do that.
I also played through Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2 half a dozen times each. Neverwinter Nights a couple of times. I think that Baldur’s Gate II was the greatest fantasy role playing game of all time.
Usually, I am a completionist, but because my hands do not work, it is not as easy. I do every side quest, explore every nook & cranny, and go through every dialog tree (restarting if needed).
I got the first two Witchers in a Steam summer sale, and I did not know anything about the books. I hate tutorials, and since I knew how the controls worked, I liked the second one better than first. For W3, I like the Blood & Wine DLC best.
I am not a strict RPG player. I try to stay good and help people, but I am not above murder and mayhem if necessary. The false moral choices are annoying. Usually, it is of no consequence, but sometimes it is.
At the end of Fallout 3 & New Vegas, I got pissed-off, and I killed everybody that was not essential. In Skyrim, the Paarthurnax dilemma ruined the game for me. Since the two asswipes are essential, you cannot kill them. Otherwise, Sky Haven Temple would have been “painted with their blood”.
Vampire and dragon attacks killing everybody is fixable through modding. There are a number of mods that address the problem. Quest NPCs should be flagged as essential, but if any are not flagged, there is an unofficial bug patch mod. There is a mod that raises the level Dawnguard starts. There is a mod that stops vampire and dragon attacks on towns. There is a mod that causes the NPCs to run away, or my favorite, adds the protected flag (only killable by PC) to most named NPCs.
There are mods to make the game easier, harder, slightly different, a complete overhaul, or a total conversion. If you cannot find a mod to suit your needs, you can always create your own.