I’m surprised I’m not seeing heaps of more buzz about it.
The title story is over here. And it’s everything you’ve come to expect from him.
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And I hear he lurks on BoingBoing, hi Barack! 
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It’s literally next book for me after I finish a slim novel tonight (night boat to Tangier). Fwiw last book was Frankisstein by Jeanette Winteraon.
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I feel torn when Obama comes up.
I wasn’t a fan during the primaries (Dennis Kucinich or bust!) but he was much better than McCain, and I was genuinely happy to vote for a black president.
It deeply hurts that he went back on his talk of transparency to lock up more whistleblowers than any previous. His immigration policies only look good because he was followed by Trump. He killed people with robots (drone war).
So while I’m thankful for him not being a complete fuckup, I was deeply disappointed with his presidency, one in which he was way too scared of the other side, including not being willing to make more emphatic proclamations about the 2016 election issues.
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I guess that’s why some people say “Obama Did It”…
Not clear what it is in this case?
Also to be fair it is technically racist to say only white men can be mediocre presidents. That’s my favorite corncob take: yes obama was bad but they all were so your opinion is invalid. marvelous self own georgetown!
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It’s what the GOP rolled with during the entirety of Obama’s tenure. They figured it would be generally accepted if they in turns continually dismissed and dissed a man of color… president or not.
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And now conservatives are trying to gaslight everyone into accepting that none of that ever happened, either:
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The most cynical implementation of the ‘southern strategy’… if that was ever possible.
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Reading 4 (?) books right now, 2 more in car on machining… How To Change Your Mind is quite good, on the modern science behind psychedelics, and if you want your mind blown by the history of precision in manufacturing, and how it shaped entire nations’ histories, The Perfectionists is wonderous
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This is next on my pile after it attracted some great comments during a Stuff to Blow Your Mind series on psychedelics.
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I got tuned into it through an NPR interview with the author, then saw it in City Lights bookstore where I got the token Bukowski, but going through security on the way back and it was right in front of me on exit pushed me over the edge.
It’s good so far, even if I’m convinced of something it’s kind of sad to think that nothing could ever change my mind.
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Except he couldn’t run it because of Congress, right?
God, tell me about it. When I get steamed about 3rd party candidates and unicorn politics, a lot of it is anger with my younger self.
And who knows: Joe Lieberman obviously wanted Gore to lose (he mostly ran for his Senate seat), and he certainly would have used his position as Vice President to do as much damage to the Democratic party as possible.
Still, for the off-chance that the FBI under Gore might have prevented 911, and more importantly the collapse into hysteria and insanity that followed keeps me up nights.
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Best book I read this summer:
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^----this. I never understood why Lieberman was chosen. But then again, I don’t understand why Biden is being chosen either.
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Because the Dem establishment is fine with losing to a Republican again four years later? 
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Said it before, and I’ll say it again. If Biden, Warren, or Sanders gets the nod, we’re looking at 4 more years of Trumpster-fire. I don’t understand why people didn’t learn from Hillary.
Harris, FTW.
Two reasons: one, they were genuinely close friends, which certainly marks Gore as a poor judge of character, and two, as big middle finger to Clinton, which may or may not be understandable, but was certainly not a good strategy.
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It’s posts like this that drive home what a huge, yawning gulf there is between Obama and Trump intellectually. I can’t for a second imagine Trump posting a summer reading list, even a stupid one.
Anyway, on the subject of Obama’s achievements, this might be an useful reminder:
https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/januaryfebruary-2017/obamas-top-50-accomplishments-revisited/
No Mein Kampf?
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