Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. That is the OODA loop. It is a decision-making framework that was conceived by the brilliant and misanthropic Colonel John Boyd in response to unacceptable air combat losses during the Korean War. The concept has spread far beyond the cockpit, and is viewed by many, including me, as the most genius decision-making structure ever articulated. It is simple, elegant and foolproof. The OODA loop can be applied in every conceivable type of situation — from navigating the Southwest airlines ticket counter to managing a presidential campaign, to quarterbacking in the Super Bowl, to landing on the moon.
A few days ago in a brilliant post that offered a sliver of hope given the rise of Hakeem Jeffries, I started to feel a small lift in spirit. Today’s brilliant but deeply depressing accounting of the Republican House/party has spiraled me back into the pits of despair. I think I need to turn off the tv, stop reading the “news” and move to Costa Rica for a couple of years!
Thank you. I am uncharacteristically speechless. I can be still and observe. But not without abject fear. WTF is wrong with our DOJ, and even a President who wont reach in and pull the insurrectionists OUT OF OUR CONGRESS? THEY ARE IN OUR CONGRESS! For GODS sake. For GODS sake. For OUR sake. Jesus.
I'm not sure if I can handle (at least) two years of this shit. GOP is a refuge for the traitorous, the fraudulent, the grifting, and the stupid, and the media is complicit by not pushing back and by presenting their garbage narrative without comment.
Strong analysis. The current House majority sees this as performance theater. Their current actions on shut down the IRS or anti abortion are performance in that they will reach the Senate and die.
The Hunter Biden theater piece will be grotesque. I also believe it will show the depth of MAGA evil. I still hope there is a population that will see it and recoil against it
My only real concerns are debt ceiling and budgets. That is where their greatest impact can be felt.
The GOP House is doing exactly what the majority of the American people don’t want. The House of MAGA demonstrates daily that they are out of touch with the mainstream and cannot be trusted to uphold the COTUS nor any standard of decency. They do not care about real legislation that could better the country. Their corruption & malevolence can only help the Democrats in 2024. As my fellow subscribers have said, it is important to take breaks from the spectacle in order to preserve your health & sanity. Costa Rica sounds good, but I am partial to Paris. You can’t throw a rock in that city without hitting a great chocolate shop! 😹.
A couple of things can help, not deter: 1. The DOJ must hold extremists and the higher ups in the Insurrection accountable, and not lightly, a strong message must be sent. The longer this goes, the more diluted the message becomes. 2. DEMS must counter every bill, with a proposed rejected Bill that they would have presented, to show the drastic difference between the two. One is destroying, the other is solving problems. Just complaining, won’t work, continually show the nation what they could/should have had. DEMS a must continue to build a vision of cooperative govt.
Listen to this interview with Keir Giles, Russian expert, beginning at 40:30. https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles jibes with Garry Kasparov's view and years-long warnings. Most in the west do not understand the Russian mindset, but as this nightmare in the US House unfolds, the bad guys are revealing themselves more and more and the soft war we are in with Russia will become clearer. According to Keir Giles, "You may not be interested in Russia, but Russia is interested in you." Once one understands that Russia and its assets and useful idiots in the US Congress and media are attacking us and have been for some years, the spectacle we are seeing makes sense. The Russian disinformation/psy-op campaigns courtesy Mike Flynn, Tucker Carlson and others combined with Russian active measures are becoming more obvious. It appears that George Santos is a recent big tell. Russia's aim is to weaken the US and our allies. They've been doing this kind of thing in Eastern Europe for a long time and they've also been quite effective in the UK in recent years. Begin at 40:30 for this must-listen interview with Giles. You won't regret it: https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles has written two books, and I look forward to reading book to be released later this month: "Russia's War On Everybody: And What It Means For You."
And let's not forget the hugely important issue of initiating a dress code...for women in The House. How this helps Americans is beyond me. Observing is becoming increasingly difficult as all I want to do is cover my eyes, delete twitter, stop reading the news and wait till 2024 so we can vote these vile people out.
The Rs are hosting a spectacle for 2 years that is the equivalent of Rome's coliseum days, and we get to pipe it right into our homes for comfortable viewing. That is how I see the upcoming attempt to dismantle the President's son. I am beyond furious with a large portion of this country ignorantly living in a fact-free world because they belly up to the bar of outrage that Fox Propaganda feeds into their IVs on a nightly basis. I hope I live long enough for the US to regain its reputation as a (mostly) sane group with fringe nutters and not the other way around.
I was particularly appalled by the MAGA House passage of the grotesquely named "Born Alive Act." Steve Scalise had the gall to look at a camera and state with great solemnity that babies are being born at full term and then killed, and that "the left" calls that an abortion. If this were happening anywhere - which it unequivocally is not - it would not be called an abortion. It would already be prosecuted as murder in every state and territory of the US.
This bill would not save a single infant. What it would do is force doctors to attempt every life-saving means available to them on every infant with a fatal birth defect, so long as that infant was able to take a breath or had a heartbeat at the moment of birth, thus prolonging the doomed infant's agony and further traumatizing parents during what is undoubtedly the worst moment of their lives. (For just one example, look up "anencephaly" if you don't know what it is.) And this is only one scenario - I'm sure there are endless repercussions I'm not thinking of.
Thank God for the Senate and President Biden, who stand as a bulwark against the tidal wave of crazy...at least for the moment.
A very pessimistic take on what is and what will be............and one that I share. The next two years, to speak bluntly, are going to be an absolute sh-t show.
We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.
Nikita Khrushchev
I remembered this quote while reading this, Steve. I have stepped back this week. Haven’t decided if I am mad, disgusted or overwhelmed by it all. Probably all three. Right now there is a big part of me that says just detach, hang out here in the woods, on the river and let them destroy themselves. Sure that will change, but for now I do not see that responding to the MAGA rage, lies, etc. will make any difference. My hope is they will destroy themselves and the American people will wake up, stop generational voting and vote them out. I admit I have less hope of the DOJ doing anything. I believe our Constitution and laws are clear, but I just do not have much faith in the DOJ. I get building a case, but this has been allowed to go on far to long. The damage is almost permanent, thank God for the Senate. But, minds and hearts are damaged. Not sure how you fix that. So I guess count me in the observing stage.
There have been plenty of sound remarks made here replying to Steve’s latest offering..More that one elude to having to wait, accept and live through the next two years..Some speak of leaving the country..But this is not business as useful, these are desperate times..our Democracy is being undermined while it and its populous is being pushed back into a corner in a fight or flight life and death set of circumstances..
This idea that we must wait until 2024 to take action at a ballot box that is becoming more elusive day in and day out, even with the extraordinary good work of Marc Elias is blind optimism..
There is a movement in this country that declared war on The United States on January 6th 2021..It has moved into the House of Representatives like a malignant cancer.. It is not being responded to accordingly..
Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. Is as good a strategy as I can see..but it is going to have to be happening swiftly..An all hands on deck application of it is required. These people must be crushed, removed from their seats in government up and down the ballot..
These people are a clear and present danger to the of the United States..A clear succinct message must be sent in a manner to which can not be misinterpreted..They need to be shaken up, rattled to their core and drive into submission..
Drastic desperate measures are necessary if this cancer is to be cut out and destroyed..
Steve, that Hannity piece is hilarious. Very few people, including me would notice the room was occupied by only white folks and almost totally men. Diversity. Hannity. You can fool me once......
Stefanik won't survive her next election I hope, she is a real danger to the US. No principals but either does most if not all the Republican Party. 2024 will see some significant changes for the better.
A few days ago in a brilliant post that offered a sliver of hope given the rise of Hakeem Jeffries, I started to feel a small lift in spirit. Today’s brilliant but deeply depressing accounting of the Republican House/party has spiraled me back into the pits of despair. I think I need to turn off the tv, stop reading the “news” and move to Costa Rica for a couple of years!
Thank you. I am uncharacteristically speechless. I can be still and observe. But not without abject fear. WTF is wrong with our DOJ, and even a President who wont reach in and pull the insurrectionists OUT OF OUR CONGRESS? THEY ARE IN OUR CONGRESS! For GODS sake. For GODS sake. For OUR sake. Jesus.
I'm not sure if I can handle (at least) two years of this shit. GOP is a refuge for the traitorous, the fraudulent, the grifting, and the stupid, and the media is complicit by not pushing back and by presenting their garbage narrative without comment.
Strong analysis. The current House majority sees this as performance theater. Their current actions on shut down the IRS or anti abortion are performance in that they will reach the Senate and die.
The Hunter Biden theater piece will be grotesque. I also believe it will show the depth of MAGA evil. I still hope there is a population that will see it and recoil against it
My only real concerns are debt ceiling and budgets. That is where their greatest impact can be felt.
The GOP House is doing exactly what the majority of the American people don’t want. The House of MAGA demonstrates daily that they are out of touch with the mainstream and cannot be trusted to uphold the COTUS nor any standard of decency. They do not care about real legislation that could better the country. Their corruption & malevolence can only help the Democrats in 2024. As my fellow subscribers have said, it is important to take breaks from the spectacle in order to preserve your health & sanity. Costa Rica sounds good, but I am partial to Paris. You can’t throw a rock in that city without hitting a great chocolate shop! 😹.
A couple of things can help, not deter: 1. The DOJ must hold extremists and the higher ups in the Insurrection accountable, and not lightly, a strong message must be sent. The longer this goes, the more diluted the message becomes. 2. DEMS must counter every bill, with a proposed rejected Bill that they would have presented, to show the drastic difference between the two. One is destroying, the other is solving problems. Just complaining, won’t work, continually show the nation what they could/should have had. DEMS a must continue to build a vision of cooperative govt.
Listen to this interview with Keir Giles, Russian expert, beginning at 40:30. https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles jibes with Garry Kasparov's view and years-long warnings. Most in the west do not understand the Russian mindset, but as this nightmare in the US House unfolds, the bad guys are revealing themselves more and more and the soft war we are in with Russia will become clearer. According to Keir Giles, "You may not be interested in Russia, but Russia is interested in you." Once one understands that Russia and its assets and useful idiots in the US Congress and media are attacking us and have been for some years, the spectacle we are seeing makes sense. The Russian disinformation/psy-op campaigns courtesy Mike Flynn, Tucker Carlson and others combined with Russian active measures are becoming more obvious. It appears that George Santos is a recent big tell. Russia's aim is to weaken the US and our allies. They've been doing this kind of thing in Eastern Europe for a long time and they've also been quite effective in the UK in recent years. Begin at 40:30 for this must-listen interview with Giles. You won't regret it: https://youtu.be/EE0j87ElnMU Giles has written two books, and I look forward to reading book to be released later this month: "Russia's War On Everybody: And What It Means For You."
And let's not forget the hugely important issue of initiating a dress code...for women in The House. How this helps Americans is beyond me. Observing is becoming increasingly difficult as all I want to do is cover my eyes, delete twitter, stop reading the news and wait till 2024 so we can vote these vile people out.
The Rs are hosting a spectacle for 2 years that is the equivalent of Rome's coliseum days, and we get to pipe it right into our homes for comfortable viewing. That is how I see the upcoming attempt to dismantle the President's son. I am beyond furious with a large portion of this country ignorantly living in a fact-free world because they belly up to the bar of outrage that Fox Propaganda feeds into their IVs on a nightly basis. I hope I live long enough for the US to regain its reputation as a (mostly) sane group with fringe nutters and not the other way around.
I was particularly appalled by the MAGA House passage of the grotesquely named "Born Alive Act." Steve Scalise had the gall to look at a camera and state with great solemnity that babies are being born at full term and then killed, and that "the left" calls that an abortion. If this were happening anywhere - which it unequivocally is not - it would not be called an abortion. It would already be prosecuted as murder in every state and territory of the US.
This bill would not save a single infant. What it would do is force doctors to attempt every life-saving means available to them on every infant with a fatal birth defect, so long as that infant was able to take a breath or had a heartbeat at the moment of birth, thus prolonging the doomed infant's agony and further traumatizing parents during what is undoubtedly the worst moment of their lives. (For just one example, look up "anencephaly" if you don't know what it is.) And this is only one scenario - I'm sure there are endless repercussions I'm not thinking of.
Thank God for the Senate and President Biden, who stand as a bulwark against the tidal wave of crazy...at least for the moment.
A very pessimistic take on what is and what will be............and one that I share. The next two years, to speak bluntly, are going to be an absolute sh-t show.
(Pardon my use of profanity)
We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.
Nikita Khrushchev
I remembered this quote while reading this, Steve. I have stepped back this week. Haven’t decided if I am mad, disgusted or overwhelmed by it all. Probably all three. Right now there is a big part of me that says just detach, hang out here in the woods, on the river and let them destroy themselves. Sure that will change, but for now I do not see that responding to the MAGA rage, lies, etc. will make any difference. My hope is they will destroy themselves and the American people will wake up, stop generational voting and vote them out. I admit I have less hope of the DOJ doing anything. I believe our Constitution and laws are clear, but I just do not have much faith in the DOJ. I get building a case, but this has been allowed to go on far to long. The damage is almost permanent, thank God for the Senate. But, minds and hearts are damaged. Not sure how you fix that. So I guess count me in the observing stage.
Lordy do I ever loathe these deplorables.
There have been plenty of sound remarks made here replying to Steve’s latest offering..More that one elude to having to wait, accept and live through the next two years..Some speak of leaving the country..But this is not business as useful, these are desperate times..our Democracy is being undermined while it and its populous is being pushed back into a corner in a fight or flight life and death set of circumstances..
This idea that we must wait until 2024 to take action at a ballot box that is becoming more elusive day in and day out, even with the extraordinary good work of Marc Elias is blind optimism..
There is a movement in this country that declared war on The United States on January 6th 2021..It has moved into the House of Representatives like a malignant cancer.. It is not being responded to accordingly..
Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. Is as good a strategy as I can see..but it is going to have to be happening swiftly..An all hands on deck application of it is required. These people must be crushed, removed from their seats in government up and down the ballot..
These people are a clear and present danger to the of the United States..A clear succinct message must be sent in a manner to which can not be misinterpreted..They need to be shaken up, rattled to their core and drive into submission..
Drastic desperate measures are necessary if this cancer is to be cut out and destroyed..
We just require the will..
Steve, that Hannity piece is hilarious. Very few people, including me would notice the room was occupied by only white folks and almost totally men. Diversity. Hannity. You can fool me once......
Stefanik won't survive her next election I hope, she is a real danger to the US. No principals but either does most if not all the Republican Party. 2024 will see some significant changes for the better.
Almost as soon as I posted the above, I realized the other emotion swirling around me is fear.