And done for the moment

     The second night of democratic debate ebbed and flowed across the TV screen last night and I admit it put me to sleep with a half hour to go.  I missed the decisive punch Kamala Harris administered to Joe Biden, comparing her own experience as a child of the school busing generation to the VP's opposition to it.  I did see her bring some order to the rowdy proceedings at one point when it seemed the moderators had lost control, telling her fellow candidates the American people wanted not a food fight, but answers on how to put food on the table.   She was easily the most appealing candidate on night two of the debates.
     It will be interesting to see if post debate polls reflect my version of the proceedings.   To me, the women, Warren, Harris, Gillibrand and Klobuchar seemed more prepared and willing to present plans and answer attacks than most of their male counterparts.  The killer Bs, Biden, Bernie, Buttegieg and Beto seemed less ready for prime time, especially O'Rourke.  Among the rest of the candidates, Cory Booker also scored well and often.  I'm betting however the next polls will show Uncle Joe and Bernie still running one and two.  The patriarchy doesn't give up easily.

One down...

     I was able to catch most of the first wave democratic debate last night, although by the time the candidates were making their closing remarks, I was slipping in and out of consciousness on the way to dreamland.   As far as I can tell, none of the candidates will improve their relative standing in the polls by virtue of their performance.
     Elizabeth Warren came off as well prepared and passionate about her desire to fight for the average American family.  The lack of another first tier candidate to play against may have hurt her, but it was a boon to Julian Castro and Cory Booker who both made the most of their time by trumpeting their signature issues; immigration policy from Castro and gun violence from Booker.   Most of the rest came off as lightweight like Beto O'Rourke, or annoying like John Delany and Bill DiBlasio.
     It will be interesting to see how many people tune in to tonight's debate.  Two more hours of talking points and democratic civility may be too much for anyone except dedicated political junkies.  However, since four of the top five candidates are on tonight, I would guess most of their dedicated supporters will tune in for at least a few minutes.  We are still a year away from nominating a candidate to run against Cheetolini, but I have a feeling it will seem like a decade.

Complicity

     As I sit here on a brilliant, sunny day in the North Country the US government, acting in my name, is holding thousands of immigrant children at the border in appalling conditions.  The CBP is being outed for the cruel and inhumane treatment of these children, but appears to be resisting any changes to a regime which includes 10 year olds caring for toddlers because no one else will do so.
     Welcome to Donald Trump's America in 2019.   Unbelievably, up to 30% of my fellow citizens think it is Ok to jam hundreds of children into facilities designed for a fraction of that number.  They also feel it is alright to deny them soap, toothpaste and shower facilities.   As one, now infamous lawyer arguing the government's case tried to say it was only a short term situation and therefore it was possible the CBP was not obligated to provide basic sanitary conditions for the children she was brought up short by a judge who experienced first hand the Japanese internment camps during WW2.
      The lack of civility tRump has brought to this country is shocking, but the fact that so many of my countrymen not only countenance this horror, but actually celebrate it is even more horrifying.  If this policy was met with the universal condemnation it so richly deserves, it would be changed in a heartbeat.  The fact his base supports almost anything the president* does encourages even more extreme and humanity defying actions.  Somewhere, Jesus weeps.

Voting against ourselves

      Paul Krugman in the NYT today points to the lack of rural health care in many red states and calls out the voters who put republicans in charge.  In states which refused to expand Medicaid under the ACA, up to twice as many non elderly adults have no health insurance compared to states which accepted the funding.  Rural hospitals are closing and doctors are leaving.  The same people who show up for free clinics in rural areas vote republican and then wonder why they have no health care.
      The same goes for many union members who vote for GOP candidates and then curse when their state legislatures enact "right to work" laws which cripple unions.  The list of those who vote for a party dedicated to working against the interests of the poor and middle class goes on and on.  Without the bigotry and social issues republicans use to entice these groups, they would probably poll less than 30%  of Americans.  I understand there are a few people who agree with the small government, less regulation mantra used by the GOP as their ostensible ideology, but the vast majority of their supporters are driven by social issues.   Unless and until these people reexamine their consciences there will be plenty of poor, rural populations without healthcare.

Seeing a future that doesn't include us

      Recently, there has been a mini revolt against self checkout stands at supermarkets.  The rallying cry is people could be filling the positions and besides, why should the customer do the work of checking out and bagging groceries.   Of course, the answer for supermarkets is to hire fewer clerks and force time constrained consumers to either use the automated stands or go to a different store.
      Now, comes the next step in automation; A driverless vans delivering packages on dedicated routes between distribution centers.  It sounds innocuous, but the B to B delivery accounts for a large number of middle class trucking jobs in the US today.   The driverless trucks are now being tested on routes of up to 1000 miles and so far are outperforming standard trucks with drivers.  At least one major truck manufacturer is due to roll out a fully driverless model within 2 years.  
      When deployed, these inter warehouse delivery trucks will be 95% independent.  As many as 10 trucks will be overseen by remote human supervisors who will be able to intervene in case the robo vans run into an unprogrammed scenario.   It is estimated that by 2025 as many as half of all trucking positions will be eliminated as robot trucks work around the clock, cutting freight costs by up to 50%.
     What I want to know is who will be able to afford to buy these goods when many of us will be out of work due to automation?

Ultimate Stupidity

   It sounds like we narrowly averted a shooting war yesterday.   After a hastily called meeting with congressional leaders, a plan for taking out Iranian radar and missile sites was hatched and ready to go.  Fortunately, it was called off at the last minute by Cheetolini himself.   Speculation is he didn't want to be blamed for another war in the Middle East.  If that is so, kudos to the president* for restraining the bloodthirsty duo of Bolton and Pompeo.  However, the situation would never have gotten so out of hand if tRump was not so hell bent on erasing Barack Obama's legacy.
     The agreement among many nations and Iran to relax sanctions on the regime in return for stalling its nuclear weapons program was a compromise which pleased no one, but seemed to be working.  Enter the Orange menace who unilaterally junked the work of years in a New York minute with no plan for negotiating with the mullahs.   Now, with tensions steadily escalating and his appointees ready to begin hostilities it has finally dawned on The Donald that wars often start despite the fact most of the participants didn't really want to shoot.

On the cost of a civil society

      Two ideas are percolating through the ragged collection of synapses which pass for my brain on most days.   Reparations and tariffs and their relationship to our society are the starting points.
      According to Kevin Drum in Mother Jones, who accessed government documents to prove it, tRump's trade wars are presently costing the average American family about $1000./year.   For most of us, that is a fairly large number.   It represents the pass along costs that importers incur when they pay the government tariff on items from China, Mexico, and any other countries the president* is trying to intimidate.  It is also far more than most of us got in the GOP tax cut in 2017.   However, most of us will just pay up and grumble about inflation.
      Now, as a thought experiment, picture a thousand dollar per family charge to finance reparations to the descendants of all the slaves brought to the US in the 17th and 18th centuries.   While no one to my knowledge has put a hard dollar figure on the cost of reparations, the idea of monetary compensation for the injustice is gaining traction among liberals and black Americans.   Who among us (and I mean all white Americans) would be willing to part with any money to redress a centuries' old injustice.
     Yet, here we are, paying for a moron's idea of what trade negotiations should be with nary a peep.  The average black American family presently has about 15% of the assets of the average white American family.   That this is the product of 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow laws and segregation is not debatable.  What we as a society can and should do about it is up for discussion.  While I consider myself a liberal, I need to hear a cogent argument for reparations before agreeing to the idea.   What about the average MAGA hat wearing tRump supporter.  I think the whole idea is a hard sell.  But it is something we must grapple with as a just society.

The low information phenomenon

     Another stupid interview with another low information voter.  At Carol's Cozy Corner diner in East Westville, Pa., when asked if he could vote for a democrat for president, one real Murcan opined he couldn't possibly do so because democrats and especially Elizabeth Warren are for socialism and killing new born babies and because his father didn't fight in Korea so we could have socialism.
     This interview is then brandished by the MSM to prove democrats had better jettison socialism and baby killing if they wish to win over their real constituents instead of latte sipping, vegan hippies in NY and California.  In reality, what the interview is telling clear eyed democrats is people who have fallen under the sway of Faux News and the right wing noise machine can be engaged, but not to the extent of compromising fundamental party values.   The fact this voter refuses to vote for someone who is advocating policies which would help him and his family in favor of a president* whose every action so far has hurt him and his family means he will never vote for a democrat.
     The key to winning the next election, whether for county clerk or the presidency is to mobilize the democratic base.  There are far more of us than there are angry old white men.  Advocating for policies which make a difference in every middle and low income Americans' lives will excite our base and possibly make the Faux New's voter rethink his position.   But to change democratic priorities to appeal to low information tRump voters is a recipe for electoral suicide.

Media narratives

   I think we all intuitively know we are being played by the national media.  Whether it is Faux News making up half the stories it airs or the sometimes obsessive Rachel Maddow twisting a minor story into a half hour diatribe against the enemy du jour, we are constantly exposed to prejudicial coverage.      A well informed public would be proof against most slanted stories, but most of us get our daily dose of news from the narrow spectrum of media we feel most comfortable consuming.  For example, in today's NYT, Paul Krugman laments Cheetolini's biggest supporters, the "low information" voters he supposedly loves in many cases don't realize he has done nothing for them since winning the presidency.   Most of these voters either consume Fox and Friends or are too busy keeping their financial heads above water to pay attention to politics, especially from liberal columnists.  Similarly, Michelle Goldberg says the media narrative of Mayor Bill De Blasio is contemptuous of his presidential run.  However, De Blasio has done quite a bit for low income New Yorkers at the expense of the wealthy.  For some reason, the national media treats his quixotic campaign as a joke, while lauding the far more politically adept Mayor Pete, who has done little or nothing for his economically challenged constituents.
    Let's face it.  Most of us are either too busy or too lazy to stay well informed about politics.  tRump's ascendency as a celebrity president* proves my case.  If we want to avoid the death of our democracy, it behooves us to become the well informed citizenry our Founding Fathers expected us to be.

Beating the war drums

    Lacking the "smoking gun" of weapons of mass destruction that led to war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Iran warmongers in the tRump administration are looking for a Gulf of Ton Kin type attack on shipping in the strait of Hormuz to make their case for another war of choice, this time with Iran.
     Blaming Iran for several relatively ineffective attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is looking for international support to bring more pressure to bear on Iran and set up conditions for regime change.  So far he has not drummed up much enthusiasm for the project.  Pompeo and Tom Cotton are both military veterans, but obviously they derived a different message from their service than "war is hell".  They both seem like aging ex jocks whose defining moments occurred in some high school football game which they are determined to live out in their middle age.
     Fortunately for those of us who would prefer peace on earth, the media is not cheerleading for a war with the ayatollahs.  Unfortunately, one spectacular incident could change that equation in a heartbeat.  We need to call our representatives and demand they take back the war making powers they have ceded to the executive branch over the years.    That would be the most effective action to slow down the calls for conflict.

She'll have a plan for that

      Winning the presidency of the US is the ultimate grind.   Starting nearly 2 years before the election, the candidates are supposed to remain fresh and relevant to an electorate which starts with the political junkies who live and breathe for the quadrennial marathon and proceeds as ordinary people with families and demanding jobs check in occasionally.  Finally in the space between the nominating conventions and November 2020, the vast bulk of the population checks out the candidate's bona fides.
      Elizabeth Warren seems to be figuring out how to stay in the moment so far.  As the wonkiest of the democratic candidates she is wowing the pundits who focus on policy.  They may not always agree with her, but they admit the proposals are well thought out.  Contrast her policy papers with fellow progressive Bernie Sanders.  He has been pushing Medicare for All since 2015.  He still has not developed a coherent policy or implementation strategy.   Other candidates, specifically Joe Biden are repeating the time honored practice of proclaiming their qualifications for the job without actually articulating what he would actually do once in office.
      Of course, on the republican side the president's* minions are dusting off the "Pocahontas" strategy of calling attention to her claim of American Indian ancestry.  Once she deals with that canard, there is little else to throw at her.  Her career thus far is as close to the American Dream as any Hollywood screen writer is liable to come up with.  In any case, she has a plan for that!

Living the dream

      I attended my granddaughter Hannah's pre-Kindergarten graduation last week.  The ceremony was replete with caps and gowns and the kids marched to the obligatory strains of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance".  As with much of today's culture it was a bit over the top, but I was ready and willing to go with the flow.   Hannah is in my humble opinion a very exceptional  little girl and I hope she finds a career worthy of her talents.
     The whole show and its aftermath came back to me during a conversation with the Divine Mrs. M the other day.   She was digging through some letters and records from her college days and she recollected a conversation she had with a faculty advisor regarding career choices.  If you don't remember, the aforementioned Mrs. M was the valedictorian of her high school class and one of the most intelligent people I have ever known.  The advisor started the conversation by suggesting that her aptitude test indicated she would make a great housewife!   This happened in 1969, not sometime in the 19th century.
    Unfortunately, despite the gains women have made in society in the intervening years, I can picture Hannah on the other side of a desk from a member of the patriarchy who will suggest she content herself with less than an optimum career.  The recent spate of anti abortion laws indicate men have not given up their "right" to control women's bodies and minds.  One legislator proclaimed women must seek the approval of their impregnator if they wish to make a health care decision regarding their own bodies.
     Hannah and my other granddaughter, Erica, are growing up in what may be the final backlash against equal rights for women.  I support them and will fight for their right to choose their best path to adulthood and the career of their choice.  It seems self evident....

Camp Swampy

    The aforementioned Camp Swampy is the fictional locale occupied by Beetle Bailey and the dysfunctional platoon overseen by the ineffectual "Sarge".   The whole camp seems to be an enormous boondoggle operated by the Army to keep all the misfits and malcontents in one place.  Presumably in the Beetle Bailey alternate reality, the rest of the military is competent.
     Cheetolini's cabinet secretaries are a virtual Camp Swampy.   By turns, they are malevolent, incompetent, corrupt and venal.   A tiny minority may actually believe they are serving their country by restraining the president's* primal urge to corrupt anything he touches.  However, most of them have resigned in disgust.  Elaine Chao is now being scrutinized for directing the Transportation Department to expedite projects in Kentucky, where her husband, the odious Mitch McConnel is running for re-election.   Agriculture Secretary, former Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue will seemingly be the next to be investigated.   Under his watch, 2 Brazilian crooks were awarded money under the program which compensates farmers for tRump's trade war with China.   A Japanese company was also awarded over $200,000 on Perdue's watch.   By the end of his first (and only) term, the president* may have an entire cabinet of Acting Secretaries since most of the original cast will have resigned in disgust or disgrace.

It's not what you know...

    The little aphorism leading off this post ends of course with "It's who you know".  In bookend posts, the highly entertaining Lawyers, Guns and Money blog shows exactly how full the tRump swamp remains and how the supposed American meritocracy is a cruel joke.
     As nearly everyone who pays attention to politics knows by now, Mitch McConnel is a brazen participant in the lobbying and payoffs which blight our democracy and his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is a co-conspirator.   McConnel is up for election next year in Kentucky and his poll numbers are underwater.  Chao has arranged for her undersecretary to route lucrative contracts for infrastructure spending to several large projects in the bluegrass state.
     Meanwhile, a Yale law professor who wrote a glowing editorial in favor of Brett Kavanaugh before his confirmation hearing just had her daughter accept a prestigious clerkship with the aforementioned newly minted Supreme Court Justice.  Another coincidence, or the time honored transaction of swamp dwellers?
     Finally, in a look at what a real meritocracy might look like, Scott Lemieux details Elizabeth Warren's rise from a dirt poor Okie to a law professor specializing in bankruptcy and its effects on the middle class to a seat in the Senate and now with a legitimate shot at election to the presidency.  In all respects she is the polar opposite of the bloated moron who now occupies the post.  If nominated and elected, Warren would validate the American dream and show how hard work and merit can sometimes be rewarded.

North Country Monsoon season

     I know my garden plot is not a stand in for agriculture in the US this year, but the difficulties I have faced so far this year do mirror the experience of many farmers in the northern and central parts of America.
     After 4 days of drying weather with bright sun and low humidity parts of the garden are now dry enough to plant.  Unfortunately, the biggest area for summer and fall plantings remains wetter than normal.  I was able to till the ground, but a second or fine tillage proved impossible, just making a mess of the tilth.   Now we are faced with showers this evening and several days of rain later this week.  If  I was trying to get  a late corn crop in the ground it would probably be impossible for at least 2 more weeks.  I may plant a little sweet corn, but at the rate we are accumulating rain, I will be lucky to make raccoon food by the middle of September.
     Many growers in this area and in the corn belt of the mid west are facing similar deadlines.  If their corn crop isn't planted soon, they will have to switch to soybeans.  They face a different dilemma in that case because Cheetolini's trade war with China is killing the market for US beans.  Altogether, it is not a great year to be a farmer or gardener in many areas of the country.

Overseas embarrassment

     Not to be upstaged by the memorials for the thousands of men who died on D-Day 75 years ago, Cheetolini used up precious airtime to bash his political enemies and called Robert Mueller, a decorated Vietnam veteran a fool.  Not to be outdone, the leader of the RNC called on Americans to praise the president* and celebrate America's achievements.
     tRump used "bone spurs" in his feet as an excuse to not serve in Vietnam and actually was quoted as saying sexually transmitted diseases were his personal Vietnam.   How this buffoon can be our face on the world stage is a constant source of amazement to me.
   

75 years and counting

     There are probably only a handful of the thousands of allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy alive today.  They deserve all the plaudits they are receiving from the grateful residents of America, the UK and Canada.   Their bravery in the face of withering enemy fire and victory they snatched from the Germans rank with the greatest battles in history.   Thank you, indeed, for your selfless sacrifice.
      Very few of the valedictory remarks by speakers or writers will focus on the question of why these patriotic men were asked to lay down their lives on June 6, 1944.  What were the failed policies which cost so many a shot at a full life with loving family.   Yes, we need to remember the sacrifices made, but we also need to study the choices made by the statesmen on both sides which lead to the carnage of WW2.   The aphorism that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it is more true than ever as we are being frog marched into possible conflict by the ignorant buffoon in the Oval Office.

The grifters way to riches

    Several pundits have zeroed in on the right wing grifter problem thanks to a piece in the National Review which laments the hundreds of millions of dollars willingly donated mostly by older Americans to scammers.  This con artists appeal mostly to the social issues held dear by these citizens.
     As Kevin Drum points out, the right wing is susceptible to these grifters because the entire project of the republican party is to attract working class voters to support an organization inimical to their own interests.  The GOP is single minded in representing the top 10% of the country, but the voting math doesn't work out unless they can convince a fairly large portion of the working class that they are really working in their interest.
     Tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down.  Regulations of dangerous chemicals hurt employment.  Social Security is a scam which will be gone when you retire.  Oil drilling and coal mining  provide good employment.   The IRS targets right wing groups.  The list goes on, but you get the idea.
     This sort of dishonesty leads inevitably to the kind of scams which target anyone who buys into the ideas listed.   It creates people like the televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who is said to be worth $750,000,000.  He has a fleet of 5 private jets thanks to his audience of right wing believers.  There are dozens of Copelands out there.   An entire movement based on blatant dishonesty inevitably creates the conditions for these kinds of grifts.   Unfortunately, the typical mark for these scams is a Faux News listener, so even if they hear the truth, they are inoculated against it.

The Trumpster fire continues

     Not content to interfere in the politics of one ally,  Cheetolini decided the other day to levy tariffs on another to try and coerce said ally to do his bidding.  This is America in 2019.   Fresh off Air Force One in the UK, tRump criticized the government's approach to Brexit, and recommended his BFFs, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson to be chief negotiator and prime minister, respectively.  He is expected to draw up to a half million protesters in London before he leaves.   So much for one putative allied nation.
      The president* also levied a 5% tariff on any goods entering the US from Mexico.  The stated reason for this action is to get the Mexican government to "do something" about the flood of asylum seekers battering our southern borders.  Most  of these luckless would be immigrants are fleeing violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.  Much of this problem can be laid at the door of our policies in these countries going back to the early 1900s.   We have consistently backed right wing dictatorships which have stolen much of these countries' wealth and done nothing about the violence the abject poverty of their citizens has engendered.
     It is estimated the tariff will cost the average American family somewhere between $500 and a thousand dollars per year, and our fearless leader is promising more pain if Mexico does not somehow control the flow of people through its territory.  
     Some people feel this administration is just a bad dream we will wake from next November, but I am not that sanguine.  We need to do something now and our representatives in DC need to grow a backbone and fight the capricious behavior of this feckless moron.
     In other news, I want to shout out  Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter Alicia.  Just saying that makes me so proud.   You go girl!

Garden update

     It has been a long, cold, wet, miserable spring.  There, I've said out loud what most gardeners and farmers in the northeast have been saying under their breath as they struggle to get plantings in on time.  The added pressure of trying to have something for my CSA members every week is wearing on me.  The spinach and asparagus have performed fairly well, but everything else is on strike for warmer, drier weather.   Today is a microcosm of my spring.   At 6 a.m. it was 45 degrees with a brisk north breeze.  The soil, even in well drained areas, is still saturated and as I weeded one of my asparagus patches it was more like I was transplanting the weeds from one side of the row to the other.   The aforementioned lack of dry and sunny weather looks to be ameliorated later this week, so perhaps we will catch up, but I'm not counting on it.
    In other news, Happy Birthday Neil.   Comparing notes with you on a daily basis is one of the highlights of my day.  Keep rollin' bro!