Post 1,034 Violence – Part 1 From David French’s piece Political Christianity Has Claws: ” . . . when you combine theology and ideology but subtract virtue, you’ve created a formula for viciousness and strife. Raise the stakes to an existential or eternal level, remove the restraints of kindness and self-control, and watch the worst… [read more]
Economy Idiotica “The biggest picture is that the post-1980 economy failed to deliver the broad-based benefits that Reagan and his allies promised.” That’s from a piece by David Leonhardt, Explaining Bidenomics. Focusing on the signal and not on the phony Republican noise, look at this chart. In the 1920s we had our 1%, just as… [read more]
Silence This is for those Republicans quietly whining in their closets about right wing extremists: you really should be speaking up. . You should have voted for a Democrat to be Speaker of the House instead of voting for spineless Kevin McCarthy. You should have been speaking out against Trump’s outrages and those of the… [read more]
Cancel Culture It’s about shutting down, shutting up and shutting off opponents. The power of authoritarians lies in the absolute, unthinking enforcement of their desires and taboos by absolute, unthinking followers who are otherwise average people. We’ve watched this dynamic in constant replay through all the Trump years, as people did and do unpatriotic things… [read more]
Regular readers will likely recognize that over the years I have tried to understand why citizens on the far right portion of our politics consistently vote against their own interests. I’ve dabbled in guessing why they’re willing to believe fantastical fantasies and why they are so violent in spirit and in actions. Perhaps most important,… [read more]
Reading time – 4:17; Viewing time – 6:19 . . . Late Addition The “Million MAGA March” has concluded with great bluster, chest thumping, hate spewing and the absolute rejection of all facts that don’t comport with demonstrators’ predetermined beliefs and conclusions. It was something of a “Yea for us, we’re so so tough and… [read more]
Reading time – 2:56 . . . The House of Representatives remains in session this month. In contrast, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called a recess for the month of August for the Senate. That means that August town halls are solely with senators. Feel free to ask any of these questions of your Republican… [read more]
Reading time – 7:49 . . . Today we have a fresh edition of Future News!, but first this breaking news. On July 30 Donald Trump tweeted: Ignore the lies in this tweet and focus on the words in the magenta oval. I warned about Trump’s Wag-the-Dog in last Sunday’s post and updated the warning… [read more]
Donald Trump has declared martial law in DC. No, this isn’t a reality TV moment. This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t a prank. This is actually happening. And he’s threatened to declare martial law in any state where he wants to deploy our military personnel to “dominate the streets” against our citizens, regardless of governors’ objections…. [read more]
Reading time – 2:37 . . . In the chaos of Trump’s attempt to instigate war with Iran, we’re left with contradictions and confusion. Trump and his people continue to offer crazy non-justifications for the assassinations and they further spin mayhem. For example, a Marine Corps. General wrote a letter to the Iraqi government declaring… [read more]
