When "falsely accused adult in the room" John Kelly gave us a Trumpian take on US History, Ta-Nehisi Coates took him to the woodshed on Twitter.
Kelly is wrong about the lack of compromise leading to the Civil War, but he pretty obviously got that from Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. In it, novelist-not-historian Shelby Foote argues that the reason that the Civil War happened was because of a failure to compromise. Foote doesn't really offer any evidence for this. I suppose the rejection of the last minute Crittenden Compromise might qualify, but Lincoln had been elected on a Free Soil platform and the Crittenden Compromise rejected that. Additionally, the Crittenden Compromise seemed to open the door to slave-based imperialism into the Caribbean.
The Civil War happened because white southerners could not stand ANY restrictions or restraints on the institution of slavery. They saw threats to the existence of slavery that didn't exist in the moment. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, or at least not until late in the war. Even the Emancipation Proclamation was designed to punish secession more than end slavery as an institution.
When Burns did his documentary - which is masterful in so many ways - some of the old interpretations were stripped away. Burns put slavery right at the heart of the cause of the war and dealt well with the agency of African Americans as abolitionists and soldiers. But he included Foote to give a certain Southern perspective. Foote is known for a massive three volume Homeric narrative of the Civil War as a military conflict. He even bears a passing resemblance to Robert E. Lee. I heard Foote speak once, and he urged historians to use the tools of perspective and empathy that novelists use in order to understand why historical actors acted the way they did.
It's really good advice, but I wonder how much gets lost when you suspend your own judgment. Can you take Lee or Davis's position, then turn around and take Frederick Douglass or Sojourner Truth's? If you can, good. But Foote left open the crack in the true historical narrative that allows guys like Kelly to make the fundamental mistake he made.
The Civil War was caused by the South because they didn't want anyone messing with their slaves. That's it. That's the whole story. Deny that and you're rewriting history.
UPDATE: You read it here first, before Jon Chait.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Not Gonna Lie
This gave me a buzz. Scroll down and watch the Twitter-created excerpt from Jay Rosen.
If there is anyone left to catalog the atrocities of Trumpistan, the people in media who somehow equated Hillary Clinton's misdeeds with Donald Trump's will not fare well. Joy Reid shows how you deal with the absolute fact-free shitshow that is conservative media.
Well done.
If there is anyone left to catalog the atrocities of Trumpistan, the people in media who somehow equated Hillary Clinton's misdeeds with Donald Trump's will not fare well. Joy Reid shows how you deal with the absolute fact-free shitshow that is conservative media.
Well done.
Happy Muellerween
Will the indictments be unsealed today? My money, as I've said, is on Manafort and Flynn, since they are both so transparently guilty of breaking the law. Carter Page could be in the mix.
There are also a half dozen shady characters from NY real estate worth considering, including Minister Plenipotentiary Jared Kushner.
Should be fun!
UPDATE: Flynn escapes for now. Manafort's lackey Rick Gates also indicted. Not terribly surprising. Mueller will try for an easy scalp - someone Trump doesn't really like - before going after Flynn - someone Trump does like.
There are also a half dozen shady characters from NY real estate worth considering, including Minister Plenipotentiary Jared Kushner.
Should be fun!
UPDATE: Flynn escapes for now. Manafort's lackey Rick Gates also indicted. Not terribly surprising. Mueller will try for an easy scalp - someone Trump doesn't really like - before going after Flynn - someone Trump does like.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Tantrums
I really recommend you read David Roberts' piece. It's a well-expressed version of what I've been saying for years now: The modern GOP is simply a non-stop tantrum against the 21st century. There is no logic, no ideology, no policy agenda. All there is is the continual whine of a people who subsist on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News' steady diet of grievance and lies.
The Rightist media environment has done more to damage this country than Hitler did. Yeah, I went Godwin, and I don't care.
The Rightist media environment has done more to damage this country than Hitler did. Yeah, I went Godwin, and I don't care.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Sinister And Transparent
Republicans are rehashing the old news that Democrats helped fund the Steele Dossier in order to try and get Mueller fired or to resign. Again, whoever funded the dossier is irrelevant to whether or not it's true. In some ways, this is another example of projection being a powerful drug. Deep down, they know Benghazi was a partisan crock of bullshit. Therefore, if the Steele Dossier is partisan, it, too, must be a crock of bullshit.
It can't be a coincidence that these attacks are coming out around the time that Bob Mueller is handing down his sealed indictments. My guess is that Manafort and Flynn are definitely indicted, but the panicked response from Republicans suggest it might go higher.
Their obvious plan is make this a partisan issue. Whether Russia interfered in our election should not be a partisan issue. Shame of these immoral fuckers.
It can't be a coincidence that these attacks are coming out around the time that Bob Mueller is handing down his sealed indictments. My guess is that Manafort and Flynn are definitely indicted, but the panicked response from Republicans suggest it might go higher.
Their obvious plan is make this a partisan issue. Whether Russia interfered in our election should not be a partisan issue. Shame of these immoral fuckers.
Friday, October 27, 2017
The JFK Files
Here's where I stand on the release (or lack of release) of the JFK files. They are unlikely to expose any grand conspiracy. Instead, they will expose the incompetence and mendacity of various national intelligence agencies who tried to cover their ass after November 22nd, 1963.
That's it. As usual, there is not grand conspiracy, just incompetence layered with arrogance.
That's it. As usual, there is not grand conspiracy, just incompetence layered with arrogance.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Shooting The Messenger
For some reason, the previously known facts that Democrats helped fund the Steele Dossier has become a "big story." We have known this since last fall, when the first rumors of such a file began to circulate.
Republicans have jumped on this as proof that, in fact, it was Democrats that colluded with Russia.
Yeah, I don't understand it either.
Jon Chait notes correctly that this allows the GOP to engage in both-sides, which is a venerable way to deal with allegations of corruption. Human Shitsack, Devin Nunes, has basically leveled this attack. It makes no sense, but then again if the GOP can convince the New York Times that Hillary Clinton is the real villain here, I'm sure they will run with this above the fold.
Josh Marshall makes the point that actions by Nunes to thwart the Russian investigation is a de facto act in favor of Russia. With the Jeff Flake story fresh in my mind, this is yet another example of how the GOP will do anything to let Trump get away with it.
Republicans have jumped on this as proof that, in fact, it was Democrats that colluded with Russia.
Yeah, I don't understand it either.
Jon Chait notes correctly that this allows the GOP to engage in both-sides, which is a venerable way to deal with allegations of corruption. Human Shitsack, Devin Nunes, has basically leveled this attack. It makes no sense, but then again if the GOP can convince the New York Times that Hillary Clinton is the real villain here, I'm sure they will run with this above the fold.
Josh Marshall makes the point that actions by Nunes to thwart the Russian investigation is a de facto act in favor of Russia. With the Jeff Flake story fresh in my mind, this is yet another example of how the GOP will do anything to let Trump get away with it.
All In
Steve Bannon's war to remake the GOP in the image of Breitbart is a high stakes wager for everyone. The question for non-Republicans is what do you root for? In some ways, the current GOP elite are so far away from any policy desires, they might as well be Roy Moore. And, yet, if Bannon succeeds in turning the GOP over to its most reactionary, aggressively loony voters, could that drive moderate, suburban Republicans into the Democrats' arms? Clearly, the best result is a schism rather than a civil war, with one group or another breaking off and spoiling the election chances of the other.
The worst result is what we saw in November. The GOP empowers its worst elements: the racist uncle voter. They nominate crazy people like Roy Moore. Then, Republicans fall in line and vote for the Republican, because they just can't vote for a Democrat. While the policy outcomes are likely identical - Roy Moore OR Luther Strange are equally likely to steal healthcare from a baby - the tone and tenor of politics will get even uglier.
Jeff Flake's act of grandstanding was just that: grandstanding. It accomplished absolutely nothing to stop Trump or his agenda. Flake objects to Trump's tone, his Tweets....but not his policies. If anything he objects to the way Trump undermines Flake's ability to cut taxes on billionaires with Trump's heterodox tweeting.
But if Bannon can rupture the GOP, then perhaps we have a way out of our current political chaos. If he takes it over - and Republicans who should know better stay in the party - things will only get worse.
Stay tuned and stay frosty.
The worst result is what we saw in November. The GOP empowers its worst elements: the racist uncle voter. They nominate crazy people like Roy Moore. Then, Republicans fall in line and vote for the Republican, because they just can't vote for a Democrat. While the policy outcomes are likely identical - Roy Moore OR Luther Strange are equally likely to steal healthcare from a baby - the tone and tenor of politics will get even uglier.
Jeff Flake's act of grandstanding was just that: grandstanding. It accomplished absolutely nothing to stop Trump or his agenda. Flake objects to Trump's tone, his Tweets....but not his policies. If anything he objects to the way Trump undermines Flake's ability to cut taxes on billionaires with Trump's heterodox tweeting.
But if Bannon can rupture the GOP, then perhaps we have a way out of our current political chaos. If he takes it over - and Republicans who should know better stay in the party - things will only get worse.
Stay tuned and stay frosty.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Flake
So after giving his very brave speech about how he was going to lose his re-election so he was going to quit instead and go make cool bucks on K Street, Jeff Flake turned around and voted to strip consumer protections away from ordinary Americans. The 50-50 vote to make it harder to hold the Big Banks accountable was broken by Mike Pence.
Jeff Flake doesn't like Donald Trump. He doesn't like his tone. He doesn't like that Trump. He doesn't like that the electorate who sent him to Washington for the past two decades are a bunch of aggrieved, racist loons.
But the policy differences between Jeff Flake and Donald Trump couldn't fit a sheet of notebook paper between it.
Jeff Flake doesn't like Donald Trump. He doesn't like his tone. He doesn't like that Trump. He doesn't like that the electorate who sent him to Washington for the past two decades are a bunch of aggrieved, racist loons.
But the policy differences between Jeff Flake and Donald Trump couldn't fit a sheet of notebook paper between it.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Flaking Out
If Jeff Flake was the conscientious patriot he claims to be, he would run as an independent. Most likely result is that he tosses the race to the Democrat. Which would actually do more to hold Trump accountable than impassioned speeches on the Senate floor.
If you are a Republican like Flake or Corker or McCain, you owe it to your country to support Democratic oversight in Congress of this White House. If any of the mini-Trumps win the Arizona and Tennessee Senate seats, that makes the Senate objectively worse.
John Cole says it better.
So does Charlie Pierce.
If you are a Republican like Flake or Corker or McCain, you owe it to your country to support Democratic oversight in Congress of this White House. If any of the mini-Trumps win the Arizona and Tennessee Senate seats, that makes the Senate objectively worse.
John Cole says it better.
So does Charlie Pierce.
Eat The Poor
Matt Yglesias lays out the Republican philosophy on tax cuts. He notes, correctly, that the GOP exists to funnel money upwards to the rich, so that the economy as a whole can grow, which presumably trickles down to everyone else. Feeding the horse to feed the birds, if you get my meaning. (My meaning is that trickle down is horseshit.)
He also persuasively notes that Reagan and Thatcher-esque tax cutting has a direct impact on economic inequality. Trickle down does not produce a rising tide. It does not raise all boats. In fact, living standards for the poor have fallen, unsurprisingly, as taxes on the rich are cut. The current tax philosophy of the GOP actively exacerbates the concentration of wealth in the "1%." It does not just by simply taxing them less, but by creating a privileged class of wealth - investments - that escape even more taxation.
Yglesias gives the arguments in favor of these policies as "making America friendly to investors" as if we were Bulgaria. We are not Bulgaria (no offense to Bulgarians).
He concludes - and I agree - that the GOP will simply pursue deficit financed tax cuts rather than real tax reform, because they can't find revenue neutral ways to cut taxes on the rich without hurting everyone else. We will get tax cuts, not tax reform.
He also notes that one argument against this could be noting the devastating effect on the national debt. I think there are some corners of the country where that might have some traction. But he suggests, and I agree, that the real argument needs to be one of fairness. In other words, you need to make Bernie Sanders' argument rather than Erskine Bowles argument against these tax cuts. Democrats need to make the debate about economic fairness.
I think we are entering a tipping point moment against the aggregation of great wealth. I think it's part of the fuel of ethno-nationalist politics in the Global North. All I would add to Yglesias' argument is that we almost need a global tax agreement to avoid a race to the bottom. In order to rebalance the human scales, we will need to tax the financial industry much more than we do. Since the financial industry is as slippery as a grease-covered eel, having a global regime in place to prevent tax evasion will be critical.
Democrats won the health care fight (I think it's over, who knows) because the GOP was proposing something monstrous. They are doing the same thing on taxes, providing the message gets across.
He also persuasively notes that Reagan and Thatcher-esque tax cutting has a direct impact on economic inequality. Trickle down does not produce a rising tide. It does not raise all boats. In fact, living standards for the poor have fallen, unsurprisingly, as taxes on the rich are cut. The current tax philosophy of the GOP actively exacerbates the concentration of wealth in the "1%." It does not just by simply taxing them less, but by creating a privileged class of wealth - investments - that escape even more taxation.
Yglesias gives the arguments in favor of these policies as "making America friendly to investors" as if we were Bulgaria. We are not Bulgaria (no offense to Bulgarians).
He concludes - and I agree - that the GOP will simply pursue deficit financed tax cuts rather than real tax reform, because they can't find revenue neutral ways to cut taxes on the rich without hurting everyone else. We will get tax cuts, not tax reform.
He also notes that one argument against this could be noting the devastating effect on the national debt. I think there are some corners of the country where that might have some traction. But he suggests, and I agree, that the real argument needs to be one of fairness. In other words, you need to make Bernie Sanders' argument rather than Erskine Bowles argument against these tax cuts. Democrats need to make the debate about economic fairness.
I think we are entering a tipping point moment against the aggregation of great wealth. I think it's part of the fuel of ethno-nationalist politics in the Global North. All I would add to Yglesias' argument is that we almost need a global tax agreement to avoid a race to the bottom. In order to rebalance the human scales, we will need to tax the financial industry much more than we do. Since the financial industry is as slippery as a grease-covered eel, having a global regime in place to prevent tax evasion will be critical.
Democrats won the health care fight (I think it's over, who knows) because the GOP was proposing something monstrous. They are doing the same thing on taxes, providing the message gets across.
FFS Alabama
Do not elect a guy who thinks the Supreme Court allowing same sex couples to get married is worse than Dred Scott. There is just so much wrong with that, whether it is the tacit acknowledgment that slavery is just a constitutional wrinkle or the equation of marriage equality with any number of moral indignities.
Something in the '60s and '70s broke a bunch of white people like Roy Moore. The sooner they are politically neutralized, the better this country will be.
Something in the '60s and '70s broke a bunch of white people like Roy Moore. The sooner they are politically neutralized, the better this country will be.
Monday, October 23, 2017
The Decision Tree
Philip Bump runs through how the Trump White House created a losing week of terrible narratives. It basically arises from the dual Trumpian traits of fact-free bullshit and relentless attacks on anyone who disagrees with him. Someone somewhere noted that Trump thought his press coverage would get better after he became president. This is because Trump is a historically illiterate moron.
Louis CK noted that the prime job of a president is to take abuse. You just have to shut up, apologize and move on. Trump can't do that, and he's not going to learn.
Thanks a lot, Republicans.
Louis CK noted that the prime job of a president is to take abuse. You just have to shut up, apologize and move on. Trump can't do that, and he's not going to learn.
Thanks a lot, Republicans.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
No Duh
Of course Wall Street has a sexual harassment problem on par with Hollywood. I'd be shocked if it wasn't worse. You combine men who need to dominate and socio-economic power and you will get sexual predation. It's not really complicated. If you are willing to kill yourself and work 80 hour weeks to become a Wall Street titan or a Hollywood exec, you aren't doing it strictly for the money.
Yeah, But...
Secretary of State and IQ Aficionado, T-Rex Tillerson, makes a decent point: with ISIS effectively defeated, Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops and advisers should go home.
There is a problem with his suggestion/demand. US troops are still in Iraq. Why should Iran not follow their own country's interests in expanding their influence in Iraq and Syria? Isn't that precisely what we've been doing?
As the saying goes, countries don't have friends, they have interests. What is so baffling about conservative foreign policy is that it is based on the idea that no other country should be able to pursue its interests, if that conflicts with US interests. Unless it's Israel or Saudi Arabia, then YOLO.
Don't think the rest of the world doesn't smell the hypocrisy.
There is a problem with his suggestion/demand. US troops are still in Iraq. Why should Iran not follow their own country's interests in expanding their influence in Iraq and Syria? Isn't that precisely what we've been doing?
As the saying goes, countries don't have friends, they have interests. What is so baffling about conservative foreign policy is that it is based on the idea that no other country should be able to pursue its interests, if that conflicts with US interests. Unless it's Israel or Saudi Arabia, then YOLO.
Don't think the rest of the world doesn't smell the hypocrisy.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Kakistocracy, Part The Millionth
I think there is an interpretation of Trump's phone call to the grieving widow that isn't awful. He wanted to praise LaDavid Johnson's voluntary commitment to his country's security, but because he's Trump, he couldn't pull it off, because he lacks basic empathic ability. Still, he was trying to do the right thing, but he can't because he's an awful person. Typical of Trump is this nonsense where he writes checks with his big mouth than his even bigger ass can't cash.
I was listening to NPR's report of the godawful DEA bill that made it easier for drug companies to evade oversight and enforcement. Quelle surprise! Marsha Blackburn, the Trump of Tennessee, was intimately involved in its passage, as well as the guy Trump wanted to make Drug Czar. If there is one issue that is having a calamitous effect on "red state America" it is the opioid epidemic. Yet, here are Republicans - from Trump to Marino to Blackburn - actively taking measures to make it worse.
Some of this is the individual perfidy of the individual politicians. However, as I noted last night, this extends beyond any individuals. Conservatism is improperly named. To "conserve" is to preserve. Conservatism is wedded to the status quo, because it inherently distrusts the ability of human reason to improve things. Instead, true conservatism wishes to see things move slowly, so that they benefit from accrued human wisdom, rather than someone in a governmental office redesigning the nation's health care.
The "Conservative Movement" is no longer conservative. It's deeply, deeply reactionary. It embraces veiled and not so veiled appeals to racism. It wishes to rollback the welfare state, including the parts that work. It wishes to embrace a Gilded Age philosophy of governance.
Because it does all these things, it attracts a truly horrible group of people who simply do not care about their fellow human beings. Selfishness is the essential ingredient of those Houstonians who enjoy their FEMA response while decrying their tax dollars being spent in Puerto Rico. It's an essential ingredient in massive regressive tax cuts. It's an essential ingredient in sending other people's sons and daughters overseas to fight in needless wars.
These are the worst people in America. Sure, there are selfish, cruel liberals. Hello, Harvey. We routinely fail to live up to the best idea of ourselves. My problem with Movement Conservatism is that its best version of itself is still fucking awful. And so, when it is left unfettered, we get what we have now. If Donald Trump is the walking personification of a Fox News Comment Thread, that's not just a reflection on Donald Trump. That's a reflection on the entirety of the "Conservative Movement."
Reagan's political gift as being able to appeal to these fundamentally selfish people while maintaining a breezy optimism and positivity. Today, his heirs embrace the anger and fear and resentment without providing any solace to the country.
What's more, Trump - and Kelly, for that matter - can't apologize, because to apologize opens the door to accountability. If you can be wrong about what happened in the phone call or the FBI building dedication, why can't you be wrong about climate change or tax cuts or Muslims or walls or any of the other objectively bullshit things they believe in?
Trump failed to provide solace to LaDavid Johnson's family because he literally can't, any more than he can walk on water or speak Mandarin Chinese. I don't know where we go from here. Because of the nature of our incompetent political institutions, rural America is over-represented in government. This has been a problem for over a century. It might improve with the dying off of the generation that came of age in the '60s and '70s and hate what they saw in their youth, but will it?
Can we afford to wait that long?
UPDATE: Came across this from Wolcott:
This sentimentalization of the Loyal Trump Voter, whose rationale for standing by the president is often cradled in incoherence and plain, proud ignorance with a large chunk of stubborn pride, is the latest extension of the press’s centering of the White Working Class in the national narrative, no matter how much the demographics and the complexion of the country change. Every election cycle, eastern reporters ritualistically venture into caucus and primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire on Norman Rockwell safari to file copy from the diners and truck stops on “real Americans” in plaid jackets and tractor caps with heartland values and comfort-food appetites. It is time this romance with Ma and Pa Kettle was put out to pasture. Let journalists find other ways to pretend to be in touch with those left behind and clinging to their discredited articles of faith. Otherwise, decades from now, if news outlets as we know them survive, reporters may still be tramping through the hinterlands searching for the last remaining Trump holdouts to interview as if they were Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungles long after World War II ended.
I was listening to NPR's report of the godawful DEA bill that made it easier for drug companies to evade oversight and enforcement. Quelle surprise! Marsha Blackburn, the Trump of Tennessee, was intimately involved in its passage, as well as the guy Trump wanted to make Drug Czar. If there is one issue that is having a calamitous effect on "red state America" it is the opioid epidemic. Yet, here are Republicans - from Trump to Marino to Blackburn - actively taking measures to make it worse.
Some of this is the individual perfidy of the individual politicians. However, as I noted last night, this extends beyond any individuals. Conservatism is improperly named. To "conserve" is to preserve. Conservatism is wedded to the status quo, because it inherently distrusts the ability of human reason to improve things. Instead, true conservatism wishes to see things move slowly, so that they benefit from accrued human wisdom, rather than someone in a governmental office redesigning the nation's health care.
The "Conservative Movement" is no longer conservative. It's deeply, deeply reactionary. It embraces veiled and not so veiled appeals to racism. It wishes to rollback the welfare state, including the parts that work. It wishes to embrace a Gilded Age philosophy of governance.
Because it does all these things, it attracts a truly horrible group of people who simply do not care about their fellow human beings. Selfishness is the essential ingredient of those Houstonians who enjoy their FEMA response while decrying their tax dollars being spent in Puerto Rico. It's an essential ingredient in massive regressive tax cuts. It's an essential ingredient in sending other people's sons and daughters overseas to fight in needless wars.
These are the worst people in America. Sure, there are selfish, cruel liberals. Hello, Harvey. We routinely fail to live up to the best idea of ourselves. My problem with Movement Conservatism is that its best version of itself is still fucking awful. And so, when it is left unfettered, we get what we have now. If Donald Trump is the walking personification of a Fox News Comment Thread, that's not just a reflection on Donald Trump. That's a reflection on the entirety of the "Conservative Movement."
Reagan's political gift as being able to appeal to these fundamentally selfish people while maintaining a breezy optimism and positivity. Today, his heirs embrace the anger and fear and resentment without providing any solace to the country.
What's more, Trump - and Kelly, for that matter - can't apologize, because to apologize opens the door to accountability. If you can be wrong about what happened in the phone call or the FBI building dedication, why can't you be wrong about climate change or tax cuts or Muslims or walls or any of the other objectively bullshit things they believe in?
Trump failed to provide solace to LaDavid Johnson's family because he literally can't, any more than he can walk on water or speak Mandarin Chinese. I don't know where we go from here. Because of the nature of our incompetent political institutions, rural America is over-represented in government. This has been a problem for over a century. It might improve with the dying off of the generation that came of age in the '60s and '70s and hate what they saw in their youth, but will it?
Can we afford to wait that long?
UPDATE: Came across this from Wolcott:
This sentimentalization of the Loyal Trump Voter, whose rationale for standing by the president is often cradled in incoherence and plain, proud ignorance with a large chunk of stubborn pride, is the latest extension of the press’s centering of the White Working Class in the national narrative, no matter how much the demographics and the complexion of the country change. Every election cycle, eastern reporters ritualistically venture into caucus and primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire on Norman Rockwell safari to file copy from the diners and truck stops on “real Americans” in plaid jackets and tractor caps with heartland values and comfort-food appetites. It is time this romance with Ma and Pa Kettle was put out to pasture. Let journalists find other ways to pretend to be in touch with those left behind and clinging to their discredited articles of faith. Otherwise, decades from now, if news outlets as we know them survive, reporters may still be tramping through the hinterlands searching for the last remaining Trump holdouts to interview as if they were Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungles long after World War II ended.
Friday, October 20, 2017
I'm Reaching The End Of This Shit
Reading this profile of Houston Trump voters who don't think the Federal government should help Puerto Rico anymore makes me want to scoop my eyes out with a melon baller and pour bleach in the sockets.
Most of the people interviewed are over 70. They live in a world of Fox News fictions, and frankly I'm sick to fucking death of their ignorance, selfishness and mean-spiritedness. The article does a great job following up their ignorant-assed statements with gentle qualifiers. For instance, one old bastard - actual name is Hogg - says that Puerto Ricans... Hell, let's just listen in, shall we?
What - exactly - is the common factual ground that you can take with these people? Of the five people interviewed, only one, Mary Maddox, is done with Trump. Patsy Hogg tries to defend her husband, because he comes off like an insufferable dick in the interview.
Two things. First, this article drives home the point that white women who should have known better gave us Donald Fucking Trump. Second, until this cohort of people who came of age in the '60s shuffles off their mortal coil, we are truly screwed.
Sorry/not sorry if I'm pissy. Things have happened today that have brought home all the horribleness of this world Trump's building. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of being ashamed for my country because ignorant, selfishness assholes finally elevated one of their own to the Oval Office.
Most of the people interviewed are over 70. They live in a world of Fox News fictions, and frankly I'm sick to fucking death of their ignorance, selfishness and mean-spiritedness. The article does a great job following up their ignorant-assed statements with gentle qualifiers. For instance, one old bastard - actual name is Hogg - says that Puerto Ricans... Hell, let's just listen in, shall we?
“Guess what? There’s a big chunk of the population that lives without electricity all the time,” Ramirez said, saying he was sharing the experiences of a friend who has family on the island.
Hogg, 76, nodded his head in agreement: “They never had it. Never had it.”
“They don’t live deprived, because it’s a beautiful environment,” she continued. “The weather is nice, the climate is good most of the time, so it’s different from here . . . It works there because of the climate. It wouldn’t work here.”
About 96 percent of Puerto Rico’s electricity customers had service before Maria made landfall, according to federal data; many of the rest had no power because of Hurricane Irma two weeks earlier.
Ramirez said the government should encourage those living in the hardest-hit areas to move to the mainland, out of the direct path of hurricanes and into communities with more-reliable infrastructure.
“I object. I object. They should stay where they are and fix their own country up,” Hogg responded softly, shaking his head, wrongly referring to the U.S. territory as a separate nation.
What - exactly - is the common factual ground that you can take with these people? Of the five people interviewed, only one, Mary Maddox, is done with Trump. Patsy Hogg tries to defend her husband, because he comes off like an insufferable dick in the interview.
Two things. First, this article drives home the point that white women who should have known better gave us Donald Fucking Trump. Second, until this cohort of people who came of age in the '60s shuffles off their mortal coil, we are truly screwed.
Sorry/not sorry if I'm pissy. Things have happened today that have brought home all the horribleness of this world Trump's building. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of being ashamed for my country because ignorant, selfishness assholes finally elevated one of their own to the Oval Office.
Glimmer Of Hope
So, Roy Moore is a tax evader. Maybe. It's tax law and it's confusing.
However, Moore as a candidate has two primary appeals in Alabama. The first is that he's a Republican. The second is that he's supposed to be this moral crusader, a Joan of Arc with a shriveled little penis and a ten-gallon hat.
Allegations of his tax improprieties can't be good for him. We have seen in the Age of Trump that Republicans can literally justify ANYTHING that a Republican does or says, if they think it will redound to their advantage. Evangelical Christians remain Trump's biggest supporters, because...honestly, I don't know, unless it's because Trump hates the same gay, brown city dwellers that they hate....very Christian of them.
Recent polling has the race tied or within the margin of error. That should be taken with a grain of salt, as special elections are notoriously hard to poll. Once again, Democrats are faced with a race in incredibly unfavorable territory that they could conceivably win.
And yet they will probably lose. It IS Alabama after all.
If Doug Jones pulls of the upset, it will set off alarm bells throughout the GOP. It could imperil any tax cut plan that explodes the deficit.
Maybe you could throw some coin his way?
However, Moore as a candidate has two primary appeals in Alabama. The first is that he's a Republican. The second is that he's supposed to be this moral crusader, a Joan of Arc with a shriveled little penis and a ten-gallon hat.
Allegations of his tax improprieties can't be good for him. We have seen in the Age of Trump that Republicans can literally justify ANYTHING that a Republican does or says, if they think it will redound to their advantage. Evangelical Christians remain Trump's biggest supporters, because...honestly, I don't know, unless it's because Trump hates the same gay, brown city dwellers that they hate....very Christian of them.
Recent polling has the race tied or within the margin of error. That should be taken with a grain of salt, as special elections are notoriously hard to poll. Once again, Democrats are faced with a race in incredibly unfavorable territory that they could conceivably win.
And yet they will probably lose. It IS Alabama after all.
If Doug Jones pulls of the upset, it will set off alarm bells throughout the GOP. It could imperil any tax cut plan that explodes the deficit.
Maybe you could throw some coin his way?
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Scary Or Comforting?
When I first heard that your consciousness survives briefly after death, my first thought was "How long?" I mean, when I'm gone, I'd really prefer to be gone. If it's just a few moments after you die -you can hear things, even if your pupils no longer dilate - then...OK. I'd just prefer to be gone when they start the cremation.
But if consciousness survives brain function, that would seem to suggest that brain function and consciousness aren't actually completely correlated.
Did scientists just discover the soul?
But if consciousness survives brain function, that would seem to suggest that brain function and consciousness aren't actually completely correlated.
Did scientists just discover the soul?
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Who Do You Trust?
There are legitimate reasons why Rep. Wilson might have fabricated Trump's incredibly inappropriate words to the grieving widow of Sgt. LaDavid Johnson.
But Trump saying he is speaking the truth while Wilson is lying is not one of them. He has zero credibility on the whole "telling the truth" thing.
But Trump saying he is speaking the truth while Wilson is lying is not one of them. He has zero credibility on the whole "telling the truth" thing.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Not Good
It's too soon to tell who will win the Virginia gubernatorial race, but if Gillespie upends Northam, it will be hard for me not to decide that post-Charlottesville racism played a big role.
The debate over removing statues has obviously degenerated into the usual stupidity-fest that comes about whenever Americans are being asked to understand their own history. Apparently, you can't learn history without statues and really what was the big deal about slavery and secession anyway? I mean Robert E. Lee looked good on a horse.
But as that debate heated up, Gillespie began to run more racist ads, especially about sanctuary cities that don't actually exist creating crime that hasn't happened. Tie that in with the racial codes explicit in the statue controversy and you have a recipe for animating white identity/white nationalist voters.
Virginia has been trending blue, but it has strong purple tendencies. Some parts of the state are effectively Alabama. However, the majority of the voters are usually sympathetic to reasonable Democrats like Terry McAulliffe, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. Get whitey riled up, however, and all bets are off.
UPDATE: As usual, Martin Longman got there first and did it better.
The debate over removing statues has obviously degenerated into the usual stupidity-fest that comes about whenever Americans are being asked to understand their own history. Apparently, you can't learn history without statues and really what was the big deal about slavery and secession anyway? I mean Robert E. Lee looked good on a horse.
But as that debate heated up, Gillespie began to run more racist ads, especially about sanctuary cities that don't actually exist creating crime that hasn't happened. Tie that in with the racial codes explicit in the statue controversy and you have a recipe for animating white identity/white nationalist voters.
Virginia has been trending blue, but it has strong purple tendencies. Some parts of the state are effectively Alabama. However, the majority of the voters are usually sympathetic to reasonable Democrats like Terry McAulliffe, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. Get whitey riled up, however, and all bets are off.
UPDATE: As usual, Martin Longman got there first and did it better.
Iraq In A Hard Place
Good news: SDF and Kurdish forces have captured the erstwhile capital of ISIS, Raqqa.
Bad news: IDF and Kurdish forces are engaged in combat over the city of Kirkuk.
When you let slip the dogs of war, you can't begin to predict where they will roam and what they will destroy. The "country" of Iraq remains riven along three basic lines: Shia Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurd. For a while, Shiites and Kurds united to defeat ISIS. Now that ISIS is collapsing, they seem intent on retraining their guns on each other.
Should the Kurds have their own country? Yes, probably. And the Kurds will insist on owning Kirkuk. But Kirkuk has oil and Iraq doesn't want to lose it.
If the Kurds are committed to independence, they need to cede Kirkuk's oil (or at least part of it) in return for Kirkuk's geography.
Middle Eastern politics is so often maximalist ("Give me everything I want!") that it can make compromise impossible, but any independent Kurdistan will require compromise with Iraqis, because they will likely have to defend themselves from Turks if they do win independence.
Chaotic times we live in.
Bad news: IDF and Kurdish forces are engaged in combat over the city of Kirkuk.
When you let slip the dogs of war, you can't begin to predict where they will roam and what they will destroy. The "country" of Iraq remains riven along three basic lines: Shia Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurd. For a while, Shiites and Kurds united to defeat ISIS. Now that ISIS is collapsing, they seem intent on retraining their guns on each other.
Should the Kurds have their own country? Yes, probably. And the Kurds will insist on owning Kirkuk. But Kirkuk has oil and Iraq doesn't want to lose it.
If the Kurds are committed to independence, they need to cede Kirkuk's oil (or at least part of it) in return for Kirkuk's geography.
Middle Eastern politics is so often maximalist ("Give me everything I want!") that it can make compromise impossible, but any independent Kurdistan will require compromise with Iraqis, because they will likely have to defend themselves from Turks if they do win independence.
Chaotic times we live in.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Historical Roots Of Impeachment
This is a nice summary of why the Founders would have recommended impeachment for Trump.
However, the Founders did not anticipate political parties and their ability to override loyalty to the Republic. Sad!
However, the Founders did not anticipate political parties and their ability to override loyalty to the Republic. Sad!
#Me,Too
If you haven't seen it on social media like Facebook, women are saying, "Me, too" if they have been sexually harassed or assaulted. We undergo sexual harassment training every other year, and I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what is and is not permissible at this point in my life. But I am not sure I always did. I know I never assaulted anyone and I know I was never pervasively creepy. But I'm a large man. Did I ever intimidate someone? Ever make them feel less than safe?
If so, I'm sorry, wherever you are.
If so, I'm sorry, wherever you are.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
There's Your Swamp
Depressing tale of how industry controls our government. Of course, Big Pharma is no different from the NRA. Both are making money off dead Americans, it's just that drugs more often than not work to save lives.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
The Creeping Militarization Of Our Government
Political scientists have argued about what fascism truly is for 70 years. We continue that argument by asking whether Trump is a fascist. I've always come down on, "No, Donald Trump is an authoritarian, not a fascist."
I'm beginning to change my mind.
Part of it is that Trump is relying on the fetishization of the military to wide himself from criticism. This is part of the whole "take a knee" controversy, that somehow morphed into a discussion about "respecting the troops."
This little nugget is another example. Zinke is former military, so I guess I see where the impulse came from. But he's not in the military. He's the Secretary of the Interior. The idea that anyone gives a fuck if he's "on deck" is absurd.
This is all part of the slow abandonment of democratic norms. A small amount of this is occurring on the PC Left, but it is the currently defining nature of the GOP in the Age of Trump.
Yeah, I'm worried.
I'm beginning to change my mind.
Part of it is that Trump is relying on the fetishization of the military to wide himself from criticism. This is part of the whole "take a knee" controversy, that somehow morphed into a discussion about "respecting the troops."
This little nugget is another example. Zinke is former military, so I guess I see where the impulse came from. But he's not in the military. He's the Secretary of the Interior. The idea that anyone gives a fuck if he's "on deck" is absurd.
This is all part of the slow abandonment of democratic norms. A small amount of this is occurring on the PC Left, but it is the currently defining nature of the GOP in the Age of Trump.
Yeah, I'm worried.
Puerto Rico
Tough to keep up with things, as Twitler keeps throwing up new outrages.
But here is a running timeline.
Hey, Puerto Ricans? If you really want to get back at Trump? Move to Florida and register to vote.
But here is a running timeline.
Hey, Puerto Ricans? If you really want to get back at Trump? Move to Florida and register to vote.
Friday, October 13, 2017
The Revolutionaries
There are two articles that make essentially the same point. A point that really needs to be internalized, especially by the political press. First, American democracy is under siege and that siege is almost exclusively coming from within the Republican Party. The GOP has fled from or undermined democratic norms at numerous points throughout the last three decades. It is getting worse, not better. Since the GOP tends to draw its support from American authoritarians anyway, the positions of the party leads to obedience from the Base.
Secondly, Jon Chait lays out how the modern GOP was created by constant insurgencies. The GOP constantly eats its own in a spiral towards some imagined purity of essence that will create the One True Faith and lead America into Reaganland Utopia. The fundamental problem, of course, is that the GOP vision of American government is both unworkable and unpopular. So they consistently fail to accomplish their outlandish goals. Rather than reconsider their flawed ideology, they retreat further into "purity" and purge the latest person who fails to make the impossible possible.
Trump, with his assault on just about everything, is not an outlier; he IS the GOP. American democracy will not be truly secure until we recommit ourselves to democratic norms and values, and that will only really happen once the fevered madness that has gripped the GOP is relinquished.
It can't happen soon enough.
Secondly, Jon Chait lays out how the modern GOP was created by constant insurgencies. The GOP constantly eats its own in a spiral towards some imagined purity of essence that will create the One True Faith and lead America into Reaganland Utopia. The fundamental problem, of course, is that the GOP vision of American government is both unworkable and unpopular. So they consistently fail to accomplish their outlandish goals. Rather than reconsider their flawed ideology, they retreat further into "purity" and purge the latest person who fails to make the impossible possible.
Trump, with his assault on just about everything, is not an outlier; he IS the GOP. American democracy will not be truly secure until we recommit ourselves to democratic norms and values, and that will only really happen once the fevered madness that has gripped the GOP is relinquished.
It can't happen soon enough.
You Break It, You Own It
There is at least some unpredictability about how Trump's recent tantrum-based policy on ACA will actually effect insurance markets. Buying the cheap policies makes sense for some people and could create a risk of a "death spiral" as healthy, young people flee the exchanges. However, people have generally been enthusiastic about getting "good" health insurance. We shall see.
What isn't up for debate is that this throws the entire individual insurance market into turmoil. It might be a disaster; it might be survivable; it might work OK. But insurance companies don't much care for uncertainty, and this creates a maelstrom of uncertainty.
What is undeniably clear is that anything that now goes wrong with the ACA belongs exclusively to the Republicans. They were thwarted from passing their godawful American Shitburger Acts (v1.0-v5.0), but now they have ceded the ability to screw everything up to Mr. Bankruptcy and his nuanced understanding of risk pools and insurance markets.
This could even bleed over into employer based insurance markets.
The idea that Trump is a child who governs by tantrum and petulant whining is increasingly hard to dismiss as partisan rancor (especially since more Republicans are saying it every day). This is a great example of a policy that is objectively bad, but whatever. Trump is gonna Trump and Republicans are gonna Republican.
Meanwhile, people will lose their insurance, perhaps their homes and even their lives.
But Trump got a "win" over Obama. And that's all that matters to him.
What isn't up for debate is that this throws the entire individual insurance market into turmoil. It might be a disaster; it might be survivable; it might work OK. But insurance companies don't much care for uncertainty, and this creates a maelstrom of uncertainty.
What is undeniably clear is that anything that now goes wrong with the ACA belongs exclusively to the Republicans. They were thwarted from passing their godawful American Shitburger Acts (v1.0-v5.0), but now they have ceded the ability to screw everything up to Mr. Bankruptcy and his nuanced understanding of risk pools and insurance markets.
This could even bleed over into employer based insurance markets.
The idea that Trump is a child who governs by tantrum and petulant whining is increasingly hard to dismiss as partisan rancor (especially since more Republicans are saying it every day). This is a great example of a policy that is objectively bad, but whatever. Trump is gonna Trump and Republicans are gonna Republican.
Meanwhile, people will lose their insurance, perhaps their homes and even their lives.
But Trump got a "win" over Obama. And that's all that matters to him.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
25th Amendment Solutions
Jennifer Rubin used to be a Republican voice at the WaPo. Now she might be the shrillest of anti-Trump voices. There is no questioning, however, that Trump's behavior warrants examination under the 25th Amendment. Rumors are circulating that he's been gripped by even more paranoid and angry dark moods.
The tantrums keep coming. We are dropping out of UNESCO, because they say mean things about Israel. We might stop helping Puerto Rico, because they haven't sufficiently kissed Trump's ass for giving them paper towels.
Thanks, Republicans.
The tantrums keep coming. We are dropping out of UNESCO, because they say mean things about Israel. We might stop helping Puerto Rico, because they haven't sufficiently kissed Trump's ass for giving them paper towels.
Thanks, Republicans.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
The Gun Pivot
This is a really interesting piece on the pivot that gun ownership took in the period from 1985-1995. Gun ownership had been about hunting, until people began to fetishize the "tactical" armaments from movies that came out during the Reagan-Bush years. No one dreamed of using their own weaponry for self-defense - and perhaps the crime wave of that time period contributed to the perceived need for self-defense.
My guess is that some combination of racial panic and the real crime wave of that time period was wedded to Reaganesque rhetoric about the failure of government to do anything right to create the mythotype of Americans defending their home with obscene amounts of firepower.
And those people are overwhelmingly the 3% of the population that own 50% of the guns and dictate to the rest of us what sort of world we live in.
My guess is that some combination of racial panic and the real crime wave of that time period was wedded to Reaganesque rhetoric about the failure of government to do anything right to create the mythotype of Americans defending their home with obscene amounts of firepower.
And those people are overwhelmingly the 3% of the population that own 50% of the guns and dictate to the rest of us what sort of world we live in.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Creeping Fascism
Today has sucked, generally and personally. But there have been a host of stories that are really concerning.
The White House wants to investigate a professor who is critical of Trump.
The NFL looks like it will cave to bullying from White House over the take a knee issue.
Trump calls the Penguins "patriots" presumably because they don't criticize him.
The Trump White House continues to embrace bold lying.
Steve Bannon is embarked upon a campaign to give us more Roy Moore's in the future by primarying conservative Republicans in red states with barking mad lunatics...like Trump.
Trump meanwhile is likely edging us closer to some even greater level of chaos. War in North Korea? Some sort of petulant pissing match with Congress that imperils the full faith and credit of the US? Blowing up the Iran deal? Deporting DREAMers?
It's great that Bob Corker picked a Twitter fight, but his stern words are meaningless as long as the rest of the GOP empowers this dangerously unbalanced lunatic.
The White House wants to investigate a professor who is critical of Trump.
The NFL looks like it will cave to bullying from White House over the take a knee issue.
Trump calls the Penguins "patriots" presumably because they don't criticize him.
The Trump White House continues to embrace bold lying.
Steve Bannon is embarked upon a campaign to give us more Roy Moore's in the future by primarying conservative Republicans in red states with barking mad lunatics...like Trump.
Trump meanwhile is likely edging us closer to some even greater level of chaos. War in North Korea? Some sort of petulant pissing match with Congress that imperils the full faith and credit of the US? Blowing up the Iran deal? Deporting DREAMers?
It's great that Bob Corker picked a Twitter fight, but his stern words are meaningless as long as the rest of the GOP empowers this dangerously unbalanced lunatic.
US Out Of The World Cup
First time since 1986. They didn't deserve to be there, considering they lost a game to the Trinidad and Tobago B side and dropped countless opportunities to get that one extra point that might have kept them alive.
They tried to qualify by relying on older players like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and others. That was obviously a mistake. The US is in the U-17 World Cup, so maybe it's time to look to the future.
The problem is that the US is a large country - geographically and by population - with a diverse community of soccer players. That's a lot of different styles and different training. US Soccer will have to completely scrap whatever they have been doing with player development and start over - unless the U-17 kids win or place at their World Cup. Hopefully heads will roll at US Soccer, but somehow I doubt it.
I blame Trump.
They tried to qualify by relying on older players like Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and others. That was obviously a mistake. The US is in the U-17 World Cup, so maybe it's time to look to the future.
The problem is that the US is a large country - geographically and by population - with a diverse community of soccer players. That's a lot of different styles and different training. US Soccer will have to completely scrap whatever they have been doing with player development and start over - unless the U-17 kids win or place at their World Cup. Hopefully heads will roll at US Soccer, but somehow I doubt it.
I blame Trump.
Monday, October 9, 2017
Trump's Abuse Of Office
Greg Sargent summarizes Jane Chong and Benjamin Wittes' guide to Trump's bad behavior. I'll just cut and paste it:
They divided it into three categories. First, there are his “abuses of power,” such as the nonstop self-dealing, the pardoning of former sheriff Joe Arpaio, and the firing of his FBI director. Second, there are his “failures of moral leadership,” which constitute a general degradation of his office via, among other things, his unprecedented, serial lying and efforts to destroy the institutional legitimacy of the free press. To this second category we can add Trump’s refusal to unequivocally condemn the Charlottesville white supremacists and the White House’s use of taxpayer funds to stage a weekend stunt in which Vice President Pence walked out of a football game, which are both part of a broader effort to continue stoking divisions.
Third, there is the “abandonment of the basic duties of his office,” which includes the failure to make appointments and (I would add) the deep rot of bad faith that has infested the White House’s approach to policy: He indicated he’d sign anything at all that would let him boast of destroying Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment. I would suggest a fourth category of misconduct: Trump’s sheer megalomaniacal indifference to the fundamental notion that his office confers on him any obligation to the public of any kind. This overlaps with the conduct discussed above and also includes the refusal to release his tax returns and his ongoing sabotage of the Affordable Care Act, which could harm millions.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
This Isn't A Mystery
Evangelicals oppose birth control for two reasons. It's a rational, scientific response to population growth and its effect on the environment, and conservative evangelicals hate science.
But more importantly, birth control allows women control over reproduction and whether sex leads to children. Therefore it is possible for women to have sex for their pleasure rather than simply being a vessel for a man's seed.
Don't believe me? Then why do evangelicals love Donald "Access Hollywood" Trump so much?
But more importantly, birth control allows women control over reproduction and whether sex leads to children. Therefore it is possible for women to have sex for their pleasure rather than simply being a vessel for a man's seed.
Don't believe me? Then why do evangelicals love Donald "Access Hollywood" Trump so much?
Saturday, October 7, 2017
How Does The GOP Survive This?
The Bannon Wing wants to take down Jeff Flake. At what point do the Conservatives break with the Reactionaries? At what point does the whole thing fall apart?
And can it be sooner rather than later?
And can it be sooner rather than later?
Friday, October 6, 2017
In Case You Were Wondering
Yeah, neo-Confederates - like Roy Moore - are pretty much Confederates. You know, white supremacists and traitors.
Microcosm
On the day that the Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded to a nuclear non-proliferation group, Trump is going to decertify but not leave the Iran deal. As David Ignatius points out, this is a poor decision for a number of reasons. One, Iran is in compliance. Frankly, that should be enough. By there is also no real plan beyond wishful thinking that decertifying will somehow lead to some magical future where Iran behaves better. (In fact, I would argue that this move strengthens the hand of the worst actors in Iran.)
The reason for abandoning the nuclear deal with Iran - a deal that our current impotence in dealing with North Korea demonstrates is more important every day - is simple: Obama did it.
The deal is a good deal for everyone. It's among the best diplomatic achievements of the last 15 years.
But Obama did it, so Republicans railed against it from their echo chamber inside the Fox News hivemind, and now they are bound by their previous stupidity to pursue more stupidity.
That's pretty much the Republican party in a nutshell. And I emphasize the "nut."
The reason for abandoning the nuclear deal with Iran - a deal that our current impotence in dealing with North Korea demonstrates is more important every day - is simple: Obama did it.
The deal is a good deal for everyone. It's among the best diplomatic achievements of the last 15 years.
But Obama did it, so Republicans railed against it from their echo chamber inside the Fox News hivemind, and now they are bound by their previous stupidity to pursue more stupidity.
That's pretty much the Republican party in a nutshell. And I emphasize the "nut."
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Slave Power, Gun Power
This statistic struck me hard. Gun ownership in America is actually very narrow: 78% of Americans own zero guns, 19% own 50% of the gun.
And 3% own the other 50%. There could be 300,000,000 guns in circulation in this country, and 3% of the population is about 9,700,000 people who own 150,000,000 gun. That's 15 guns each, on average, for that 3% of people who own 50% of the guns.
The reason super majorities of Americans support common sense gun regulations is because super majorities of Americans don't own guns. Our entire national debate is catered to indulging the 22% of Americans who do own guns. Even more so, our debate seems to be beholden to the 3% of the population who hoard guns like totems or precious gems.
This reminds me of the debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War. A majority of white Southerners did not own slaves, in fact that number approached...wait for it...75%. Of the remaining 25% of Southerners who did own slaves, 2% of those families (or 0.5% of all white Southerners) owned more than 50 slaves - in other words, the large plantations that we typically think of when we think of the antebellum South.
The evil genius of the plantation elite was in getting common whites - even the majority who didn't own slaves - to identify with their economic and social agenda. To some degree, we see the same thing today. Because everything is partisan, once your side picks a side in the gun control debate, that position is locked in by partisan loyalty. By framing the debate over guns in apocalyptic terms of lost liberty, the NRA/GOP has been able to stifle any debate over even widely agreed upon safety measures. "Sure, you may not own a gun, but why should you let OBAMA take your non-existent gun away? Why do you hate freedom?"
There is another point, about how modern day gun violence correlates with the historical presence of race-based slavery. Wherever you find high murder rates, you typically see the legacy of slavery. Thus, the US has a high murder rate and Canada doesn't, despite many cultural similarities.
When we talk about restricting the availability of guns, we aren't talking to the 78%, we aren't talking to the 19% who own a rifle and a shotgun for different types of hunting. We are talking to the 3% of Americans who are armed to the freaking teeth.
We are talking to Stephen Paddock.
And 3% own the other 50%. There could be 300,000,000 guns in circulation in this country, and 3% of the population is about 9,700,000 people who own 150,000,000 gun. That's 15 guns each, on average, for that 3% of people who own 50% of the guns.
The reason super majorities of Americans support common sense gun regulations is because super majorities of Americans don't own guns. Our entire national debate is catered to indulging the 22% of Americans who do own guns. Even more so, our debate seems to be beholden to the 3% of the population who hoard guns like totems or precious gems.
This reminds me of the debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War. A majority of white Southerners did not own slaves, in fact that number approached...wait for it...75%. Of the remaining 25% of Southerners who did own slaves, 2% of those families (or 0.5% of all white Southerners) owned more than 50 slaves - in other words, the large plantations that we typically think of when we think of the antebellum South.
The evil genius of the plantation elite was in getting common whites - even the majority who didn't own slaves - to identify with their economic and social agenda. To some degree, we see the same thing today. Because everything is partisan, once your side picks a side in the gun control debate, that position is locked in by partisan loyalty. By framing the debate over guns in apocalyptic terms of lost liberty, the NRA/GOP has been able to stifle any debate over even widely agreed upon safety measures. "Sure, you may not own a gun, but why should you let OBAMA take your non-existent gun away? Why do you hate freedom?"
There is another point, about how modern day gun violence correlates with the historical presence of race-based slavery. Wherever you find high murder rates, you typically see the legacy of slavery. Thus, the US has a high murder rate and Canada doesn't, despite many cultural similarities.
When we talk about restricting the availability of guns, we aren't talking to the 78%, we aren't talking to the 19% who own a rifle and a shotgun for different types of hunting. We are talking to the 3% of Americans who are armed to the freaking teeth.
We are talking to Stephen Paddock.
Heh, Indeedy
Cam Newton is an interesting fella, ain't he? A supremely talented and hard working athlete, Newton has gotten himself into trouble, because he giggled at a female reporter asking him a question about his WR's routes.
Sally Jenkins at WaPo writes a brilliant response including this nugget:
Tell you what: If Cam Newton will show me what a hitch and a slant are, I will show him how to take questions after a loss without pouting.
Newton is no paragon of personal virtue. He's a bit of a prima donna, though I admit my bias against him as a Falcons' fan is palpable. I can summon up some microwaved hatred of Drew Brees if you need me to, and Drew Brees is both a really nice guy and a Hall of Famer. Jenkins continues to dig the knife in:
I mean....damn.
Sally Jenkins at WaPo writes a brilliant response including this nugget:
Tell you what: If Cam Newton will show me what a hitch and a slant are, I will show him how to take questions after a loss without pouting.
Newton is no paragon of personal virtue. He's a bit of a prima donna, though I admit my bias against him as a Falcons' fan is palpable. I can summon up some microwaved hatred of Drew Brees if you need me to, and Drew Brees is both a really nice guy and a Hall of Famer. Jenkins continues to dig the knife in:
My list of questions for Cam Newton only begins with what a dig route is, and what is a post. There are so many, many things I need him to explain to me. Such as:
How can you overthrow multiple 6-foot-5 receivers?
When you throw the thing to the whatchamacallit, and the other team catches it instead, does that make you feel sad?
Please tell me more about how to balance academics and athletics at Auburn University?
Is there a good fence for stolen goods in Gainesville, Fla.?
Can you come over and kill a spider for me?
I mean....damn.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Tax Reform
Tough to focus on this very important topic in our new Gilded Age, but it's worth talking about in between mass shootings and mass outrages by our emotionally stunted manchild president.
Jon Chait notes that tax "reform" is dead. One reason that doesn't show up in analysis is the idea that Republicans wanted to get rid of the federal tax deduction for state income taxes. The typical analysis is that this mainly going to hurt "blue" states with already vulnerable House members.
It is true that the states with the highest state income tax rates are usually blue - NY, CA, OR, MN, VT, IA, HI and NJ. All of those states have rates of over 8%.
But if you look at states that have income tax rates of over 6%, the list gets interesting. Sure, there are blue states - CT and DE, for instance. But the other states are purple - ME, WV, WI.
Most of the states are red: SC, GA, AR, KY, TN, NE, MT, ID and MO. All of those states will see de facto tax increases if you get rid of the federal/state deduction.
I just don't see how they will have the votes for that.
As Chait notes, the GOP will ultimately just cave on everything but cutting the top marginal rate. Because that is literally the only thing holding the GOP together.
Jon Chait notes that tax "reform" is dead. One reason that doesn't show up in analysis is the idea that Republicans wanted to get rid of the federal tax deduction for state income taxes. The typical analysis is that this mainly going to hurt "blue" states with already vulnerable House members.
It is true that the states with the highest state income tax rates are usually blue - NY, CA, OR, MN, VT, IA, HI and NJ. All of those states have rates of over 8%.
But if you look at states that have income tax rates of over 6%, the list gets interesting. Sure, there are blue states - CT and DE, for instance. But the other states are purple - ME, WV, WI.
Most of the states are red: SC, GA, AR, KY, TN, NE, MT, ID and MO. All of those states will see de facto tax increases if you get rid of the federal/state deduction.
I just don't see how they will have the votes for that.
As Chait notes, the GOP will ultimately just cave on everything but cutting the top marginal rate. Because that is literally the only thing holding the GOP together.
Sexy Rexy
Once Tillerson gets fired, I just want Trump to know that I will serve as Secretary of State. I will not refer to Trump as a moron. To his face. His pinched, orange, moronic face.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
This Is Who We Are
James Fallows on Vegas: This is who we are. We are a country that has decided - alone among developed nations - that we are OK with slaughtering our fellow citizens, because some fucking nutcase wants to own 20 guns with the capacity to kill many people at great speeds.
Monday, October 2, 2017
The Party Of Roy Moore
Remember when Bush 41 said he wanted to be the Education President? The GOP has basically become the party of White People Who Didn't Go To College, if Alabama and Trumpism is a real trend.
For Democrats, the question becomes whether they can flip college educated suburban Republicans. At the moment, partisan loyalty is too ingrained to allow this to happen, but how many more Roy Moores and Donald Trumps can they stand?
For Democrats, the question becomes whether they can flip college educated suburban Republicans. At the moment, partisan loyalty is too ingrained to allow this to happen, but how many more Roy Moores and Donald Trumps can they stand?
Prediction
Why do I just know the gunman in Las Vegas will turn out to have a goatee? Haven't seen any pictures yet, but it's the universal badge of cranky old white fuckers.
By the way, it's why I stopped having one.
By the way, it's why I stopped having one.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
I'm Not Sure How To Argue Against This
Martin Longman makes a case that Trump is actually following the template that made him President. So who's stupid now?
He concludes with
I'm not sure there is anything flawed in that analysis and that makes me sad. I do think it is very unlikely that Trump wins re-election, but the "Assholification" of our politics is likely to remain salient - especially among Republican voters - unless we crush him and the entire GOP like a bug.
He concludes with
Those who argued against comprehensive immigration reform in the aftermath of Obama's reelection were arguing that the Republicans could win, despite growing demographic disadvantages, by polarizing the white electorate against the Democratic Party on the basis of race and religion. Trump merely executed that plan. He's still executing it.
People ought to be sick by now both of underestimating Trump and overestimating the character of the American people. No one wants to hear either of those messages, but I'm sick of losing and we'll keep losing if we keep lying to ourselves.
Is Trump a cleverly disguised genius? No. Not at all. He's not even minimally sane. He's very bad at following instructions, sticking to a plan even of his own making, or executing more than two steps ahead. This is dangerous enough in the foreign policy sphere that he should be removed from office for that defect alone.
But he says spontaneous assholish things not only because that's who he is but because that's how he's had success. It's still working for him where it counts. And it's not clear that it will ever stop working for him where it counts. What will stop working for him is everything else.
I'm not sure there is anything flawed in that analysis and that makes me sad. I do think it is very unlikely that Trump wins re-election, but the "Assholification" of our politics is likely to remain salient - especially among Republican voters - unless we crush him and the entire GOP like a bug.
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