short term blogging interruption

        As followers of this blog know, I try to post something reasonably intelligent Monday through Friday on most weeks.  Not always successful, but at least making the attempt.   However, due to impending knee surgery, I will be out of action for at least several days.   Total knee replacement surgery is not for the faint of heart.  The aftermath involves heavy doses of pain killers and several days of flat on your back bed rest.   I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but am anticipating recovery of my ability to run, ski, and do a reasonable impression of an active 70 year old within a few months.  Hopefully I will be back to annoy you by the beginning of 2022.   If not, I wish all my readers a healthy and happy New Year.

Have yourself a merry little whatever

       As followers of this humble blog probably know, I am not a religious person.   I do however love holidays and wish all the best to everyone at this season of celebrations.  Unfortunately, here at Casa Monzeglio it will be a quiet one.   One of our sons in law has tested positive for Covid, so we will not be meeting our daughters and their families on the 25th.  Instead,,we will be celebrating together with technology.   Hugs and kisses will have to wait.   I hope all of my readers are able to celebrate with someone they love.  Best wishes to all for the holidays and for a healthy and happy New Year.   

Merry Consumer Christmas

        As the Divine Mrs. M finishes wrapping the final Christmas presents for our children, grandchildren and friends, Casa Monzeglio has assumed the appearance of Santa's workshop on Christmas Eve.   It's a pleasing sight and I am happy we can afford the expense, but I also have the same feeling I get every year at this time.   Why do Americans cram so much giving onto a single holiday?  

Two Americas

        As the Omicron variant of Covid 19 rapidly overtakes the country, it seems like there are two countries reacting to the news.   Blue America with a few exceptions has embraced the vaccination and testing regimen recommended by federal, state and local officials.   Most of us have realized we are in this for the long haul and ranting about mandates, coercion, etc. will not make the situation any better.

      Meanwhile, in Red America, again with a few exceptions, it's not about Covid at all.   Instead it is about government overreach and tyranny.   The unvaccinated who are dying of the disease are footsoldiers in a glorious response to the dastardly Democrats.   They eagerly consume the disinformation from their favorite "news" source and help spread the lies on social media.

     That's my take on the current situation.  Your mileage may vary.

The Manchin conundrum

         I haven't got a new take on Joe Manchin's latest perfidy.   Appearing on Fox "news" after the Senate adjourned for the holidays, the Senator from West Virginia planted a dagger in the Democratic party's back.   Calls now and in retrospect for Democrats to play hardball with Manchin ring hollow.  With its majority depending on him and to a lesser extent on Sinema, Chuck Shumer is in no position to threaten either Senator unless the prospect of Mitch Mcconnell assuming the majority leader post appeals to him.

      Losing several very winnable Senate races over the past few years is what put Manchin in the driver's seat.   Perhaps the Democratic party is in such thrall to wealthy donors it will collectively shrug as the Build Back Better bill swirls down the legislative drain, feeling there is nothing to be done.   That way leads to a thorough beat down in the midterm elections.   According to the common wisdom, rank and file party adherents will take one Senator's intransigence as Democratic incompetence writ large and either stay away from the polls or vote for Republicans.   I think the average voter is smarter than that.   Manchin needs to be called out, but in the context of electing good Democrats who actually believe in the party's platform.   

Why progressives are demonized

          For the last 40 years, since the dawn of the Reagan era, progressives have been demonized by Republicans, Democrats and the media.  They have been blamed for every electoral setback and for the loss of a key constituency, the white working class.

         As usual with the party, there is a persistent refusal to admit that promises are made to the electorate by Democrats and are rarely if ever fulfilled.   The minimum wage is a case in point.   Although progressives started the fight for $15, most party leaders signed on and it sounded like the party was on board with the policy.   Somehow, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema did not get the memo and so another promise goes unfulfilled.   

       Voting rights may be the hill the Democratic party will die on.  Unless the filibuster rule in the Senate is altered to allow a simple majority vote to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, Republicans will implement rules at the state level which will enable minority rule for years if not decades.  If Senate Democrats fail to act, the blame game will start and progressives know who will be portrayed as saboteurs.

The Doomsayers and why we can't have nice things

         Just when it looked like the Biden administration's plans to rebuild and strengthen the social safety net were about to bear fruit with a robust Build Back Better bill, the doomsayers have come out in full force to deny or at least dilute the provisions of the bill which will have a direct impact on future generations.

         With all Republican senators on team Doom and able to control and kill Biden's signature legislation without elimination or emasculation of the filibuster rule, Democrats like Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema have outsize power in the Democratic caucus.  Neither of these worthies are driven by a hint of a social conscience.  Manchin is in thrall to fossil fuel interests and no one seems to know what drives Sinema.   There are probably other Democrats who would step forward with spurious objections to this landmark legislation if the other two were to convert to social democracy.

       I would probably agree with my nephew that the whole system is rotten and must be torn down and rebuilt except if the present imperfect forms of democracy are destroyed, the result would most probably be an ethno-nationalist white supremacy state which would be the end of the American experiment for at least a generation.   So, reluctantly, I still embrace the incremental form of democracy we are still stuck with.

Justice denied?

          As more and more information and facts come out regarding the Trump administration's actions to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, the logical question to ask is where are the prosecutions?   From Atlanta, Ga. where the local D.A. is investigating tRump for the phone call he made to try and coerce the Secretary of State into manipulating the state's electoral system to declare victory to the NYS A.G. investigation of financial hanky panky by the disgraced former president, it looks like the Department of Justice is awol in the matter of investigating the peccadillos of the former guy's accomplices as well as the boss himself.

        The question becomes; are we a nation of laws or nation where flagrant violation of the law is overlooked if you are a powerful politician who might possibly advocate armed conflict if he is indicted.   All I know is is if Democrats and Republicans positions were reversed and Barack Obama had tried to steal an election I have no doubt he would already be tried and sentenced by a Republican led DOJ.

Tales of GOP angst

        Liz Cheney tapped into GOP angst last night.   The vice-chairman of the House Select Committee probing the attack on the Capitol on 1/6 read aloud some of the texts Mark Meadows received from various congress critters and Faux News personalities.   From self preservation to fears tRump was tarnishing his legacy (cue hearty laughter), most of the texts evince concern the "demonstrators" had gone too far.

     Meadows was in the process of being referred by the committee to the House for criminal contempt of Congress.  After Meadows book appeared and was denounced as fake news by his former employer, he decided to end his cooperation with the committee on the eve of his deposition.  Meanwhile, it appears stalwarts in the House Republican caucus and tRump supporters in conservative media were hyperventilating in real time as the president watched and cheered the insurrection.

    The Select Committee has interviewed over 300 witnesses, including Mike Pence's chief of staff, so they know a lot more than they are telling at this time.  The public hearings should be very entertaining.

Weather or Not

         As first responders continue to search for survivors of Friday night's tornado outbreak in the midwest , newscasters are pointedly not referring to climate change as the proximate cause of the disaster.   Part of their reticence can be attributed to them not letting the threat of global warming overwhelm the human interest story the many survivors present.   The fact is it is unheard of for a massive outbreak of such powerful storms to occur so late in the season.

       Meanwhile, the state of Vermont issued a warning there will be increasing numbers of massive precipitation events going forward.   Rainfall totals of 3-5 inches, especially when occurring on already saturated soils lead to massive flooding in river valleys where most of the population of the state is concentrated.   Most of the northern part of Eastern New York is also included in that warning, so my extended family is also at risk during these events.   Agriculture in particular will be affected.   The heavy rocky soils prevalent in the area are not good at absorbing water quickly and tend to be excessively soggy for weeks after such an event.   Combined with a short growing season, there will be little or no time to recover.   Farming and gardening will be more challenging than ever.

     Optimists think there is still something to be done to avert catastrophic climate change.  I have my doubts.   

Inflation perspectives

       Even as I finished reading Paul Krugman's column in today's NYT, which rated the economy as very good with a few problems, the talking heads on MSNBC were losing their minds over an inflation report showing inflation running at a 6% annualized rate in November.   The media has been waiting for nearly 40 years to obsess about inflation and it seems now is their chance.

      As Krugman and many other economists have pointed out, last year we were dealing with the height of the Covid pandemic and demand for almost everything had crashed.  People were not driving, eating out, or using a variety of services.  Instead they were buying things online and there was a surging demand for hardware items which corporations had not factored in to their forecasts.  Add to that the supply chain issues such as trucking and shipping.   

      Now, people are wanting to eat out, have their nails done and use a million other services which require low paid labor, at least traditionally.   These businesses have been forced to pay more for labor and charge more for their products.   

     What we have heretofore enjoyed is a myriad of services whose economic model is based on cheap labor.  Absent that, there will be inflation.   It sounds to me that the market's invisible hand has decided social justice is a thing.

Everyday Americans

      One of the talking heads on the TV this morning  in response to a question regarding messaging leaned in to the mythical "Everyday American".   Hakeem Jeffries seems to think if this everyman learns about all the things Democrats are doing for her and her family she will reward the party with a stronger majority in the next Congress.   Of course, this is a combination of whistling past the graveyard and outright delusion.

      Unfortunately, the "Everyday" American watches Fox News or even further right media outlets.   The message he receives from these places is all the benefits Democrats tout in their legislation is going to "those people".    Up to 70 million people listen to Fox News for at least an hour a week.   This is a powerful  megaphone and unless Democrats find a way to let the "everyday" citizen his life will be improved under the Democrats, the other party won't even need to cheat to win next year's midterm elections.

Birds of a feather

       According to a recent poll of college students, up to 70% of Democratic respondents said they would unfriend people who voted for Republican candidates.   Meanwhile, the same poll said Republicans in college were much less likely to perceive their Democratic fellow students with rancor.

     Personally, as long as Republicans avoid rubbing my face in their beliefs, specifically their slavish devotion to tRump, I am more than willing to debate the issues facing our country.   At least that is how i want to view myself.   Unfortunately, I probably don't live up to my ideals.  I have been unfriended by at least one person whose opinion i value because of strident views I expressed on facebook.  

    The Divine Mrs. M and I have crossed many destinations in our own country off of our bucket list of places to visit due to the political views expressed by politicians in those areas.  I prefer to think of this a s an ideological boycott of certain states.   Perhaps this is backward thinking, but unless and until voters in states such as Alabama elect less polarizing politicians as their leaders, they will have to do without our tourist dollars.

Obituaries and Entilement

        Two white men with considerable power to shape the thoughts of Americans in the past half century, Bob Dole and Fred Hiatt died over the past couple of days.  Dole, was one of the last WW2 vets in Congress and always had the benefit of participating in what many people agree was the last "good" war.  A cranky old bastard, his biggest accomplishment was his bipartisan support of the Americans with Disabilities Act.    In his case it was a no-brainer as his war wounds left him with serious physical issues.  

      Fred Hiatt, who died last night after a heart attack in November left him in a coma was the editorial page editor of the Washington Post.  The power to feature viewpoints inimical to progressives was used to maximum effectiveness in the run up to the Iraq War.  Hiatt became the go to guy for the pro-war faction in the Bush Administration and its apologists.   More than any other single institution, the WaPo beat the war drums and helped facilitate the horrors of the Shrub's war of choice in the middle east.   For this, if nothing else, Hiatt earned a place in the lower chambers of hell.

     Why must we waste time praising men (or women) who in life either espoused or facilitated unjust or racist viewpoints or at the very least were not particularly admirable people.   The local meals on wheels coordinator is probably more praiseworthy.

He's not in Kansas anymore

        Bob Dole died this past weekend.   He supported the Americans with Disabilities Act.   He was also a wounded vet of WW2.   There, I've exhausted all the "nice" things I can say about the man.   I can actually think of more nice things to say about my brother, Neil's dog, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Friday.  I certainly think the world is a poorer place without Schmoogie than it is without Bob Dole.

Women's right to choose

       As the proud father of three wonderful daughters and grandfather to four beautiful grandchildren, I approach the subject of abortion in a cautious way.   But, regardless of my feelings on the subject, the ability of women to make informed decisions regarding their reproductive health should be inviolate.   It should certainly not be abrogated by a bunch of old men in black robes.   Yet, here we are.

      A large majority of the American population feels as I do about reproductive rights, but a small and vocal minority has been working behind the scenes to gut the Roe vs. Wade decision for nearly 50 years.  It's not about the sanctity of life to these fanatics.   It is simply a way to punish women who may engage in sex for pleasure instead of procreation.  As has been said by many, if men could become pregnant, abortion would be universally available and free of stigma.

      I know it is unlikely, but those of us who support the rights of women need to make this issue the make or break in the mid-term elections.  Those who would deny reproductive rights must pay a price for their antediluvian views.

Passing the torch

      In my nearly 38 year career in the produce business, I have seen it all, so I doubt my last day as a produce broker will provide many surprises.   I am firmly resisting the opportunity to write some sentimental drivel about all the lives I have touched and have been touched in return.  To paraphrase Bob Seger, "They used me and I used them and neither one cared.  We were getting our share".  

     To be sure, I made some friends.     Chief among them was the eponymous inspiration for this blog.   Jerry Shulman took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity to make a decent living over the years.  His grit and determination were always an inspiration to me.   Likewise, I would like to thank my partner, Diane Shulman Rabin, for all her hard work and skill in navigating the changing nature of the produce business.   

     Special thanks go to my brother Neil.   Hiring him was probably the single smartest thing i have ever done.   He has always been there to remind me what is important in life and what is not, especially when the veins stood out in my forehead!

      Finally, I owe the biggest debt of gratitude to my favorite person in the whole world; my beautiful wife.   Through thick and thin, she has been my biggest fan and a constant source of inspiration.    The more I get to know her, the more I love her.  I can't wait to see what adventures we will experience together.

      Many people have asked me what I will do without the hustle and bustle of the phone ringing and endless nature of the business.  I have for the most part answered with platitudes.  Travelling with the  Divine Mrs. M, spending more time with the grandchildren and just plain relaxing after many grueling years.  In my experience, there are two types of retirees in the produce business;  those who can't let go and those who can.  I hope to count myself among the latter.

Counterfactuals on labor and capital

       According to Paul Krugman in today's NYT, workers employed by McDonalds in Denmark make the equivalent of $20./hr. and enjoy 6 weeks of paid vacation every year!   Does anyone seriously think fast food establishments in the US would have a labor shortage if they offered these wages and perks? 

      As Krugman points out,  American insularity feeds a feeling of superiority to Europe's economic system, especially when it comes to worker rights and income inequality.   Quite a bit of these false feelings are based on ignorance.   Many people in America cannot believe there are ways to do capitalism in a more humane and economically equal way.   They would flatly reject the example cited above of McDonalds paying a living wage and treating their employees with humanity.   We have a long way to go and it will require a big dose of humility before we acknowledge we may not know it all.

On to the main event

       Now that we have gotten the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays out of the way, it is time to open our pocketbooks for that orgy of consumption known as Christmas in the English speaking world.   How a day of celebration of the birth of the promised Messiah to a minor religion in the middle east became the spectacle so many of us participate in is a continuing source of wonder to me.   Billions of words have attempted to explain Christmas from the theory it was piggybacked on the Roman holiday of Saturnalia to the Druids of England and the celebration of the Winter Solstice.   In any case, it is once again upon us, as are the expectations of the children among us.  

On the giving of Thanks

        Having finally passed the torch of responsibility for the Thanksgiving feast to our eldest daughter, the Divine Mrs. M and I spent a much less frenetic day than is usual and for that we were truly thankful.   Aside from the turkey dressing I contributed and their  mother's famous apple pie we mostly added gravitas to the celebration as the semi-revered elders.

      All this extra time led to a few thoughts on this most American of holidays.  Number one being the unique nature of the day.   While few of us actually count the blessings bestowed on us merely by residing in the US, they are substantial, especially if you are a white, middle class American.  Besides Canada, I don't know if a single other country has a national day of thanksgiving.

     Leaving aside the sordid history of the European settlers' relations with native Americans, the myth of the first thanksgiving and subsequent iterations of the post harvest celebrations helped cement our national identity.  Regardless of when and how the holiday started, along with the meanings attached to it, for most of us it provides the opportunity for a few moments of introspection.  It is now fashionable in some quarters to bash anything positive in the American experience while others fanatically defend every good thing and ignore the bad aspects of our nation.  We can celebrate the good while acknowledging the bad and resolving to strive for a better America.  Anyway, that's what Thanksgiving Day means to me.

False equivalences

       Despite the manifest problems with the verdict in the Rittenhouse trial, there are lessons to be learned from it.   That white innocence is taken for granted by a majority of whites has become evident as anyone listening to Fox news can attest.   The counter to this is the insertion of a black teenager into the same scenario.   You don't need me to figure what the likely outcome.

      Gun laws are written in such a way as to protect whites.   There is an unspoken truth that people of color will not be allowed to open carry long guns.   Changing the law to restrict everyone from open carrying weapons of mass slaughter will be difficult  if not impossible in today's political climate.

      Organizing Democrats to contest and win elections at the local level is the necessary prelude to more action when it comes to gun control.   Taking on the gun manufacturers at the grassroots is another way for the majority of Americans to exert some control.  

     Finally, sensible gun regulation must become a front and center issue for those who support it.  Otherwise, the 2nd amendment crowd will continue to elect opponents of legislation establishing the limits of gun culture in the us. 

What, me worry

      As usual, the media has spotted a shiny thing, in this case, the proliferation of gun violence  and promptly decided to ignore or bury news on climate change.   It's much easier to cover the Rittenhouse and Arbury trials and speculate endlessly on the cultural significance of armed vigilantes coming to a street near you.   What gets lost is the urgency to do something about climate change before it gets completely out of hand.

      It has been speculated that for the entire population of our planet to live the middle class lifestyle we take for granted in America, we would need the resources of 8 earths.  The burning of fossil fuels and their attendant carbon debt is the reason we have transformed society in developed nations from bare subsistence for the majority of the population to a state of advancement wholly unimagined by previous generations.  It is now time to either repay this debt, or start eviction proceedings against the occupants.  We need to stay focused on what is really important for the human race.

The hits just keep on coming

        According to the latest in a steady stream of books documenting the waning days of failed former president tRump, one of his lawyers demanded a high ranking DOD official authorize a "mission" to capture CIA director Gina Haspel.   The head spook was, according to tRump lawyer Sydney Powell trying to grab and destroy servers located in Germany which had switched millions of votes in the recent election from tRump to Biden.

      The DOD official,, a staunch ally of the former guy refused to play along with Powell who he described as a nut case, according to Jonathon Karl's account of the encounter.   Meanwhile, a CIA spokesman had to issue a statement confirming the presence of the CIA director in her office.

      The whole episode is of a piece with other reporting of the bonkers atmosphere prevailing of the post election White House.   What is unspoken in the various books is the real reason for tRump's obsession with retaining the presidency.   The many crimes the president committed during his tenure would come home to roost after his defeat.   Without the legal immunity provided by the office, it seems the Donald may finally be held to account.   Stay tuned.

What have you done for me lately

        Democrats and their sympathizers in the media portrayed yesterday's signing of the infrastructure bill as an unalloyed win for the party and a cause for celebration of the bi partisan cred the bill scored.   Not to rain on anybody's parade, but even if the bill had been passed and signed the day after Biden's inauguration, most of the spending will not have started in time to make a difference in the 2022 midterms.   In fact, much of the spending the bill calls for will not take place before Uncle Joe is pushing up daisies.

      

Growing older

        In a shocking surprise, the Divine Mrs. M and a diverse cast of family and friends celebrated the occasion of my 70th birthday with a party which left me flabbergasted and grateful to all those who wished me well.  

       Call me exceptionally uncurious, but I had no idea of any planning going on until my sister and 2 brothers and their significant others came to the front door on Saturday afternoon.  Thinking that they travelled here for a quiet celebration, I was further surprised when I was ushered to a local event caterer where the rest of my family and many friends had gathered to shout the ritual "Surprise".  

       It is events such as this that make the concept of family real.  That so many people were willing to break their routines and plans to wish me well makes me humble.   Hopefully everyone reading this has family and friends as warm and loving as this 70 year old.  To the Divine Mrs. M, there are no words except "I love you" !

It's all the Democrats' fault

       The non right wing media has decided everything from "wokeness" to higher gas prices is the fault of the Democratic party.   From NYT editorials telling Dems they don't have a mandate to expand the social safety net to Morning Joseph imploring the party to do something about gas prices despite the fact they all know there is little or nothing they can do about said pricing.

      Democrats are between the proverbial rock and the hard place.     No matter what they do they will piss off a considerable part of their coalition.  Like the midterm debacle of Obama's first midterms in 2010, Democrats are probably going to lose the House, even if they vote to give everyone a pony.  GOP gerrymandering and the historic record explain that.  

       Democrats need to spend the next 10 months governing the nation like the responsible party.  Dog knows the other guys will spend the time before the next election flinging poo in all directions.   There is still plenty to be done legislatively, but the clock is running and the party had better start focusing now. 

Veterans' Day

        Once again we have come to a holiday about which I am deeply ambivalent.  On the one hand, I salute the veterans and today's soldiers who defend us from foreign threats to our independence.   On the other, I deplore the policies which cause us to support a 2 million man standing military force in an era where a much smaller force should be all we need.   

      Whether we realize it or not, our bloated military budgets enable a global American empire of influence and the soldiers and sailors who man the sinews of our war machine are just cogs in the wheel.  Until and unless we elect men and women of good conscience we will continue to celebrate the sacrifice of the men and women of the armed services who are serving in good faith but contributing to a monstrous set of policies.

The worker shortage is BS

         Employers all over the US are moaning about a worker shortage.   Small business owners who depend on immiserated workers who have no choice but to take any job no matter what the pay and benefits are particularly vocal in this regard.

        Many are blaming the "supply chain"  for shortages of goods and services  on a shortage of truck drivers.  Large trucking companies claim they can't get drivers to work.   It turns out that a majority of jobs for drivers at ports of entry don't pay by the hour, but by the load.  Bottlenecks in the port have slowed the loading times to the point where once a driver was able to transport 3 loads a day from the dock to a nearby warehouse.  Now with delays, the same driver can only count on delivering 1 load.   That is a 2/3 cut in pay.   Meanwhile, in inflation adjusted dollars, long haul drivers have not seen a real pay increase in over 20 years.

      The talking heads on TV who make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and more are shrilly calling for workers to accept whatever employers are willing to pay and get back to work so they can enjoy a return to "normalcy".   BTW, many of these pundits supported closing the borders so many immigrants who would have taken low paying jobs are not available.  As we edge toward full employment, workers will gain even more power.   Perhaps this is the way capitalism should work.

Why can't we treat everyone equally

       If you listen to one side of the law enforcement argument, the failed former president should be in custody and facing charges related to events that occurred around January  6, 2021.   While hundreds of men and women who stormed the Capitol with the intention to overthrow the lawfully elected government are being prosecuted, none of the instigators and planners of the event have faced charges. 

      The American public is being treated to another whitewash of political crimes similar to the failure of the Obama administration to pursue war crimes charges against senior members of the G.W. Bush administration.   The rendition and torture of prisoners happened and we did nothing to hold those who did it accountable.   The same thing seems to be happening again regarding charges of sedition and treason against senior members of the tRump administration.

     President Biden made much of having a Department of Justice free of partisanship.   The DOJ is supposed to enforce the laws without fear or favor.  It is time for Merrick Garland to live up to that creed.

The Beltway Pundit blues

      I don't know if D.C. beltway pundits are so unaware of the dreck they mouth on Cable or if they are just bought and paid for shills of the 1%.   I suspect it is a mixture of the two.  The Morning Joe program on MSNBC is a particularly egregious example of both.   On the one hand they praise Democrats for voting for the Bi-partisan infrastructure bill, then cudgel the same party for not taking enough credit for the legislation.

      The next segment was on inflation and after naming a couple of items which have increased in price by double digits they start running around the set with their hair on fire, blaming Dems for not being laser focused on inflation instead of the dislocations caused by the pandemic.  90% of the economic problems we have experienced in the past two years have been caused by either Covid or climate change.  Republicans have gone all in on opposing commonsense approaches to both issues.

       If pundits really wanted to practice truth telling, they could and should hammer the GOP 24/7 regarding its total opposition to good governance.   I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen.

Corporate BS

        No less a liberal light (supposedly) than the NYT editorial board is advising Democrats to trim the sails of their agenda as a result of a Republican victory in the gubernatorial race in Virginia.   The same pundits who opined Americans didn't support the Dems big social spending bill because they didn't know what was in it are now sure these same voters have scanned the Build Back Better Bill line by line and decided it is too liberal for their tastes.

        If anything, this is a faint echo of the problems the supporters of Obamacare faced in 2009.  Hardly anyone knew what was in the bill and Republicans found it easy to demagogue with sound bites like "death panels".   The slow motion passage of the bill and the watering down of its most popular provisions like insurance subsidies for the middle class led to the backlash of the 2010 elections.

     The BBB, when explained to voters is incredibly popular.   There are no death panel provisions for Republicans to use as scare tactics.  Even if progressives give up many items on their wish list, the reduced bill is still transformative.  But unless it is passed, signed by the president and allows ordinary citizens to feel the benefits in their own lives before the 2022 midterms, there will be another electoral debacle next year.

     The corporations and plutocrats are influencing editorial pages and will continue to shape public opinion to try and reject the increasingly moderate tone of Biden's signature legislation.  Liberals must educate the public about the BS being shoveled  at them right now.

Motivation and elections

         Having voted in every presidential election since 1972 and almost all local and off year elections during that time period I am probably something of a Democratic unicorn.   Many nominally registered Democrats participate once every 4 years if the Democratic candidate moves them.  Otherwise, they are non-participants in the ongoing pageant of small d, democracy.

       The media touts the registration advantage Democrats hold over Republicans, but the enthusiasm is mostly on the Republican side.  With little in the way of policy to offer, the GOP has devolved into the culture war party as well as a cult of personality centered on a failed former president who began his public career as a reality show star.  

      Democrats can do better, but the party needs to become relevant to many voters who are alienated by a system which promises much, but delivers little to actually improve their lives.  

Same old, same old

         No doubt pundits will be spending most of the next couple of weeks telling us about the impending doom facing Democrats in the wake of Republicans winning the Virginia gubernatorial race and possibly the New Jersey contest as well.   What many, if not most will do is quietly gloss over the "issue" which dominated GOP talking points throughout the campaign.  I am referring to Critical Race Theory or CRT, the acronym most refer to when touting it as the Southern Strategy for Republicans.

      The fact CRT is not taught in K-12 in any school system in America has not deterring Republicans from fearmongering the issue of history seen through the lens of white supremacy.   A new generation of white parents, many of them the offspring of Boomers with ambivalent feelings on the issue of race in America have bought the scare tactics used by Republicans like Glenn Youngkin in Virginia.   The recent removal of many statues celebrating the Confederacy has turned a non-issue into a potent political force.

     Primed by Youngkin's victory, the GOP will make the race and to a lesser extent immigration the defining issues of the 2022 campaign.   It is up to Democrats to educate their base and the rest of the nation regarding these campaign ploys.   It is hard to believe in the second decade of the 21st century we still have to deal with the legacy of slavery in this country,, but there it is...

Treason in defense of what?

        A long article in yesterday's Washington Post examines the timeline of the January 6 insurrection and what we know about it so far in excruciating detail.  It becomes plain that the majority of those who stormed the Capitol and entered the building were intent on derailing the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.   

       These people committed treason and should be dealt with accordingly.   So far, however, the people who planned the insurrection and goaded the mob on 1/6 have not been held to account.   That includes the twice impeached, failed former president who watched the rebellion unfold on a giant screen in the White House and resisted calls to restrain his supporters for over 3 hours while they engaged in hand to hand combat with Capitol and Metro police.

     We are supposed to be a nation which respects the rule of law above all.   The next year will be a test of whether we will continue in that tradition or begin the slow slide into authoritarianism.   The leaders of the insurrection must be named and prosecuted to the full extent allowed under law.

We're Doomed

      Well, it's not a sure thing, but if you listen to the media, the coming loss of the Virginia governorship by Democrats to a  tRump lite Republican is the proverbial handwriting on the wall.  Thanks to non-stop pro Republican reporting by the mainstream media and unrelenting attacks from the right it is assumed by many the Democrats' agenda is doomed and we are on a glide path to Republican domination for decades, if not forever.

      No, Virginia, we are not Hungary and tRump is not Victor Orban.   Reports of Democracy's demise have been greatly exaggerated for effect by many in the media.  However, many Americans have greater faith in their fellow citizens than is generally given credit.  Glenn Youngkin may win the Va. governorship, but I don't think that spells impending doom for Democrats in general.   If there is blame to be apportioned, the media must accept a disproportionate share.

Snatching defeat etc.

       Yes, they went there.   A  talking head on a morning program said Democrats were in the process of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by failing to pass the half assed "bipartisan" infrastructure bill favored by the chattering class.  Of course, the inevitable failure of the Build Back Better human infrastructure bill is taken as a given.   Hardball politics explains all.

      It is widely supposed that Democrats must do something or they will inevitably be portrayed as "do nothings".  Meanwhile, progressives stand strong against passing the one bill without the other.  As pressure mounts to save the so called Biden legacy, they need to stay together and cause political discomfort to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for holding out against the most far reaching social programs since the inception of Medicare.   This nation must stand for something other than the interests of the 1%.

Watered down

       It seems ironic the guts of President Biden's climate change legislation is being ripped out of the Build Back Better bill just as a freak Nor' Easter dumped multiple inches of rain in the NYC metro area causing billions of dollars of damage.   Speaking to a grower in Goshen, NY, I was told the area received 7 inches of rain on Tuesday.  This after nearly 5 inches fell in the same spot 6 weeks ago.   To use a term the Divine Mrs. M abhors, this is unprecedented!

     When the damages from these storms are toted up, they will probably not include the damage to drainage systems in the area, lost late season crops and potential losses from crops that may never get planted.   The grower I mentioned in the first paragraph still has 12 acres of garlic to plant and the window to get it done is fast closing on him.

    The climate change portion of Biden's and Congressional Democrats' legislation would have cost several hundred billion dollars over a 10 year period as a down payment in the fight against the rising amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  The cost of not doing that will easily amount to trillions of dollars in mitigation and lost GDP over the same period.   Not to mention the human suffering the disastrous weather changes will bring.  

     I haven't given up on legislating to fight climate change, but if the mid-term elections bring about a Republican majority in the House or the Senate, we can pretty much give up short term solutions to the most dangerous crisis in the history of the human race.

Baseball

        As a confirmed, dyed in the wool Yankee fan, my tolerance for baseball is usually extinguished as soon as my team has been eliminated from post season play.   However, this year I find myself strangely fascinated by the ongoing tournament.

        At first it was to root against the hated Red Sox.   Although I will never buy into the Boston mystique, I had to admit the Sox showed resilience as they beat the Rays and fought to a 2-2 tie in the ALCS before falling to the even more hated Astros.  This is the team who supposedly cheated their way to a World Series victory in 2017, beating the Yankees along the way.

      So, I find myself rooting for a National League team for the first time in my life.   The Braves are a scrappy team with an underdog vibe and I will tune in again tonight to see if they can steal another game in Houston.   At least this November I will still have a rooting interest in baseball.  Go Braves!

Pretty depressing

        It's hard to be a liberal in the United States in 2021.   The Biden administration' s signature legislation, the Build Back Better bill is being effectively gutted by two putative Democrats in the Senate.  tRump and his minions are doing their best to stall the investigative work by the House Select Committee on the events leading up to the January 6 insurrection.   The DOJ, led by Merrick Garland is turning into a toothless tiger when it comes to the misdeeds of the previous government.  We seem to be careening inexorably toward ecological disaster.   The Covid pandemic continues to propagate around the world with devastating effects on the supply chains which keep the economy humming.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

      There are solutions to all the problems mentioned above.   The common denominator to resistance to amelioration is the Republican party.   Because letting things fester for the next year is the surest way back to power for the GOP.   A dispirited Democratic party and an energized MAGA base spells at least two more years of gridlock leading up to the 2024 Presidential election.  

     It doesn't have to be this way.  However, unless Democrats score some decisive legislative victories soon, we can look forward to a Congress controlled by a band of nihilists bent on destroying our democracy.

Facebook and the end of democracy

       A recent report in the NYT based on a whistleblower's account said Facebook planted a fictional character in the social media giant.   The new person was represented to be a thirty something republican woman who was not active politically, but said she was curious.    Within days, her account was swamped with Q Anon friendly posts urging her to follow the most radical content on the site.  A steady stream of hate followed.   This is the result of algorithms which respond to anyone showing any amount of sympathy to a  Republican point of view.   

      This is a two pronged attack on democracy.   First, you have a social media giant who puts profit above all.  Next comes a political party playing with the tools of fascism.  This unholy alliance is killing our democracy and it must stop.

Bad Faith

        The Fugitive Uterus Act, by which the Texas legislature empowers vigilantes to enforce a clearly unconstitutional law is just another example of Republican bad faith when it comes to individual rights.   The same party that would seemingly defend to the death your right to spread a deadly pandemic by refusing a safe and effective vaccine now says women cannot get a safe and legal medical procedure in consultation with her doctor if she waits longer than 6 weeks after conception.  Most women are not aware of their pregnancy until after this artificial and medically dubious deadline.   This is your modern Republican party...cherish it.

Still no frost

      When I moved to the North Country from Long Island in 2001, the common wisdom regarding Fall was most areas received the first killing frost sometime in mid September.   Mountainous areas a little earlier and the Champlain Valley of New York and Vermont a little later, but by the end of the month, the growing season was officially done.

     In the 20 years since that move, the frost date has varied, but seemingly has come a little later on average each year.   This year is exceptional.   We still have not had a frost.   Local farmstands still offer tomatoes and sweet corn.  Most golf courses are still open and Canadian geese fly aimlessly instead of heading south.  If this is a harbinger, I will be planning  spinach in September next year for Thanksgiving and Christmas harvests!

Sausage for all

       The journey of the  Biden administration's Build Back Better plan to actually passing into law is looking suspiciously like the fight over Obamacare in 2008.   Both Obama and Biden mostly left the drafting of the legislation to their congressional allies, the former also encouraged a bipartisan approach to the health care bill.  

      The ACA was compromised nearly to death to satisfy Republicans who voted against it anyway.   This time around, the BBB legislation looks like it will be watered down to please Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.  Biden's bill may come through the process more intact than  Obama's, but the dilatory process and the Democrats' infighting may spell doom for the party in the 2022 midterms, just as it happened in 2010.   

      I don't think voters are turned off by legislative sausage making, especially if the final product has a positive impact on their lives.   In the case of Obamacare, many, if not most of the bill's provisions were set to kick in over a number of years.   This diluted public support at a crucial time for Democrats.  Hopefully the party learned its lesson and will have the benefits of the BBB flowing to voters in the run up to next year's elections.

They are ***holes, but they are our ***holes

       The giant sucking sound you hear is Joe Biden's agenda circling the bottom of the congressional toilet.   It also looks like two senators; Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are responsible for potentially flushing Biden's Build Back Better plan.

       At first blush, it seems to many that neither senator is serving the interests of the people who elected them.  Both states, West Virginia and Arizona, would greatly benefit from both the clean energy and human infrastructure aspects of the bill.  Manchin's state is among the poorest in the country and although coal is the titular king of the state's economy, in reality, coal has been declining as a share of West Virginia's economy since the Reagan era.   The fracking boom which has turned the state into an oil and gas producer mostly benefits interests outside the state.

      Giving him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Manchin really feels workers in his state should be beholden to the vagaries of the market for their livings.   It is increasingly a Republican way of looking at the economy, but considering Trump won the state by nearly 40 points, you can at least see why Manchin is balking at Biden's bill.   A less charitable view is that, much like the former guy, Manchin is a narcissistic asshole who just likes to see his name in print.

       This brings us to the other narcissist in this morality play.  Kyrsten Sinema is an enigma.  A Green Party candidate in the 90's and early aughts, she is now a howlingly bad imitation of a reactionary Democrat with all the bad instincts of a Dixiecrat without the ideology to match.   In the end, Manchin will probably deal with the rest of his caucus.  It's an open question if Sinema is even  listening to anybody but the voices inside her head.

Can Democrats get it done

       It's hard not to be cynical about the chances of Democrats passing the Biden administration's Build Back Better bill anytime soon.   Even if centrists in the House wind up supporting a slimmed down bill, either Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema could torpedo the legislation in the Senate and there is very little majority leader, Chuck Schumer, can do about it.

     Let's face it, Manchin and Sinema are Republican Lite and if either thought they could get the GOP nomination for the Senate in their respective states, they would be caucusing with Moscow Mitch right now.   That, unfortunately, is the reality Democrats have to deal with.   The trick is getting something that improves Americans' everyday lives approved through reconciliation.   It won't be what progressives originally envisioned, but it will be something they can point to and exhort voters to elect more like minded Senators so we can finally overcome the inertia which continues to bedevil this Congress.

Take this job and...

      There has been much handwringing lately about the state of the job market.  Many small businesses cannot seem to hire enough workers, even when resorting to offer higher wages and signing bonuses.  This is after the pandemic benefits have mostly stopped across the country.   What is happening?

      Paul Krugman in the NYT applauds workers for avoiding the poorly paying, high stress jobs like those on offer from fulfillment warehouses like those run by Amazon.   Unlike the supply chain woes that should be cleared up as the pandemic wanes, worker dissatisfaction with low paying, no future jobs will be with us for the long term according to Krugman.   He is not sure why this reluctance to step back into the low wage, menial work rat race is so pronounced.   Perhaps it has to do with the pandemic sharpening the difference between the 1% and the rest of us.   It may not be an unalloyed blessing, but the unorganized revolt of those who do the dirty jobs for low wages and an uncertain future is a step in the right direction.

Of the Beatles and Captain Kirk

       The denizens of Morning Joseph took a few minutes off from their endless pontificating about the state of our politics to remind us of two icons of baby boomer culture.  Captain Kirk in the person of 90 year old William Shatner blasted off to a place where over 500 people have gone before.  Meanwhile, in less than a month, director Peter Jackson will present a 3 part history of the breakup of the Beatles and the making of the album "Let it Be".  

      Shatner's excellent adventure was definitely more relevant to the present, but the news media covered the early part of his post touchdown reflections, omitting his warning to all of us that we are destroying the thin skin of atmosphere which protects us.   As soon as the Captain began to expound on the existential crisis confronting the human race, Jeff Bezos steered the conversation back to Shatner's anodyne experience in the Blue Origin capsule with 3 other astronauts.   If the billionaires' space race has taught us nothing else, it has shown with present technology, space flight can be a literal amateur hour.   Now if only Shatner could have warbled a few notes of "Space Oddity"...

Is the death of democracy greatly exaggerated?

       With apologies to Mark Twain, the paraphrase of his famous quote is becoming increasingly relevant when applied to American democracy, at least by the left and right wing media.   It is hard to watch either Fox news or MSNBC without hearing a commentator opine we are losing democracy as we know it because of the machinations of either Democrats or Republicans, depending  on which network you are listening to.   The Divine Mrs. M and I imagine many liberals are becoming depressed by the steady drumbeat of doom.

     The emergence of radical right wing candidates for Secretaries of State in many swing states is one bell wether to watch .   These "true believers" in the Big Lie are telling us they will reverse any Democratic victories if elected.   I hope the citizens of red states take their statements seriously.   Nearly 80% of Republicans profess to believe tRump was the actual winner of the 2020 election.    That means you and I know or know of someone in our social circle who is delusional.

      Aside from working for the election of Democratic candidates and donating to the party, i think the continual debunking of these election myths is the main thing we can do between elections.

A heady blend

       Despite the many hot takes on the Democrats imminent doom in the mid term elections, the one that stands out is the usual blather about how the party has lost the white working class.   Somehow, the aforementioned, educationally challenged white men and women have become alienated from the Democrats "woke" agenda of police and immigration reform and actually doing something about income inequality.

     There is something attractive about this theory, especially if it dovetails with the agenda being pushed by the consultant class of the party.   Repudiate all liberal positions, or at least tailor your message to appeal to the gettable white voter.    What this prescription fails to account for is the increasing alienation of what has become  the new Democratic base;  working class people of color and highly educated millenial whites.  These people are turned off by a strategy which calls for the use of racist and sexist tropes to appeal to a voter who has already experienced the unleashed white nationalism of tRump and has responded by joining the cult that is today's Republican party.

     Racism, misogyny and white nationalism is a heady brew which especially appeals to poorly educated and/or white middle class voters who resent our rapidly developing multicultural society.   Trying to pry more than a small percentage of these people away from tRump and his minions is a fool's errand.  Tomorrow's Democratic party will primarily be dominated by people of color and women.   White men will represent a small percentage of the party's voters.   Mobilizing the true base of the party is the way to go next year and into the future.

Hotober

       As I was walking my dog this morning the temperature was around 60 degrees.   For anyone familiar with the weather at latitude 44 in the US,  that should give you pause.  The fact the long range forecast is for no frost at least through the 20th is even more remarkable.   In this area we usually get an untimely freeze somewhere between the last week of September and the first week of October.  An "indigenous peoples" summer usually follows, but this year there was no freeze.  Even old timers have reacted with incredulity to the lack of a real autumn.   The leaves on most trees have turned and are falling, but some are resisting the call to change.   Nothing to see here...

chickening out

        As most commentators opined, Mitch McConnell chickened out, blinked, etc. and put off the debate over the "debt ceiling" for another couple of months.   Expect your Christmas to be ruined by tRump and the GOP as they try to score political points over a made up crisis.

       While McConnell was excoriated by the likes of Ted Cruz and the former guy, most people realized  the majority leaders patrons were really calling the shots.   The 1% don't want to see the American economy crash and burn under the supervision of the ideologues.   They have created a monster in the Republican party, and without the majority leader holding his caucus together and providing the votes to at least kick the can down the road for another couple of months, we would be staring down the barrel of the gun of debt default.  It remains to be seen if the oligarchs can continue to hold the leash of the GOP and the crazy person in charge of it.

Anti Vax idiots

       As Duncan Black at the blog Eschaton put it, while most doctors are not like the idiot in California who addressed a crowd of anti-vaxxers before being escorted from the campus of the UCLA medical center, there are enough of them to stain the whole profession.   I respect the medical profession in general, but there are far too many arrogant men and women whose specialized knowledge is grossly over rated and which leads them to believe they are infallible in many areas about which they know very little.  The doctor in question is an anesthesiologist.   What has that got to do with immunology?   So far, i have not heard of an immunologist suggesting the Covid vaccines are unsafe.   So, Dr. Lake, please STFU and let the experts opine on the subject.

Another season of futility

      The Yankees' 2021 season ended with a whimper on the field at Fenway park in Boston.  Let the post mortem begin!   Having personally watched dozens of games since the All Star break, it seems obvious to me the team sleep walks through too many contests and the back half of the lineup is sub par.   As currently constituted the Yankees will continue to win more than they lose, but will not challenge for another World Series title.   Maybe it's time to give the minor league prospects a chance to surround Judge and Stanton with the talent and enthusiasm which players like Gary Sanchez and Gleber Torres seem to lack.   Aaron Boone's excuses for poor play and lack of hustle are getting tired.

     I know in the grand scheme of things my fixation on a poorly managed baseball team seems petty.   The perfidy of the GOP, climate change and our unequal society and the continuing dysfunction of the Democratic party demand our attention and the work needed to correct the problems.   However, problems, even existential threats have always been with us.  Rooting for a sports team is a way to deal with the tensions of everyday life.  I may not be able to fix the Yankees' problems any more than I can fix the climate, but sometimes we all need a break from reality.

The problem with Facebook

      Facebook went down yesterday.    For many people, this represents an existential crisis.  For others the news sparks a "so what" response.   While I am in the latter camp, an attempt to post something on my page did make me mildly upset.   Facebook has become the background noise of our lives.  Many of us only notice when, like yesterday, the noise ceases.

     Does Mark Zuckerberg and company need regulation?   Is Facebook the equivalent of a public utility?   These are legitimate questions which demand answers.  I hope Congress addresses the future of facebook in the wake of a whistleblower testifying before lawmakers today.  However, I doubt much will come of it considering the firehose of money the company can direct in defense of the status quo.

     In the meantime, I will continue to share photos of my puppy and the grandkids and weigh in on the important issues of the day, secure in the knowledge that most of the people who eyeball my posts are either friends or frenemies who wish me no harm.   Facebook, with almost 3 billion followers can be the source of great good or equally great evil.   We need to deal with those possibilities.

This and that

      It was a wild news weekend for sports fans and policy wonks.   The Yankees made the playoffs in the bottom of the ninth as Aaron Judge singled home the only run of the game.   This sets up a wild card game with the Red Sox in Boston on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, the football Giants and Jets tempted their long suffering fans with flashes of real talent as they both won in overtime against better teams.  All I can say is don't hold your breath waiting for a championship run.

    In the world of politics, it was the Manchin-Sinema show as the two senators holding the Biden administration's legacy in their hands showed no signs of movement toward the Dems multi-trillion dollar reconciliation bill.   Sinema in particular seems laser focused on derailing the whole deal in service to her corporate paymasters.   It's going to be a long month in Washington.

     It is October 4th and it looks like local growers and gardeners will have ample time to harvest everything before the first frost of the season except in some mountain locations.   The long range forecast for the month shows above normal temperatures for most of the country.   Then again, what do we expect in a time of human induced climate change.

Republicans' selfishness

      There are so many examples of Republican selfishness occurring right now that it is hard to focus on which are the most egregious, but vaccine refusal and failure to support raising the debt ceiling are on my mind today.

       Vaccine mandates are finally moving the needle as far as overall immunization is concerned, although the minority of holdouts are getting outsize media attention.  I'm sorry, but I have zero sympathy for registered nurses who have taken innumerable mandatory vaccinations who now say they want to control what goes into their bodies.   Two of my daughters are R.N.s and have both received their shots.

      Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are providing no help to Democrats as they struggle to raise the debt ceiling to pay for the former guy's tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.   The hypocrisy involved is mind boggling, but in today's GOP, it's just another day at the office.

Hard to listen

       As Joe Biden's legislative agenda threatens to go off the rails this week bcause of Democratic infighting and the US government hurtles toward defaulting on its debts due to Republican obstruction it is increasingly hard to pay attention to the news.   It is too depressing.

      Instead, I have allowed a long time obsession to distract me.   I have been watching the NY Yankee season unspool for the last several weeks and feeling the rush of the pennant race.   Realistically, I know the team has relatively little chance to hoist the championship trophy, but the leisurely pace of the baseball season allows for an extended adrenaline rush as each game becomes more significant.  

       In politics, you are never quite sure if the Senator or Representative who professes allegiance to the administration's programs is sincere or a sellout to the lobbyists who throng the Capitol.  Baseball players, whatever their politics play their hearts out between the lines and you can count on an honest if not necessarily great performance.   Go Yankees!

The stupid still hurts

         The media and politicians who frequently guest  as talking heads continue to refer to the Biden administration's human infrastructure legislation as "the $3.5 trillion bill".   Please, just stop it.   The 3.5 trillion is spread over 10 years, so it is really 350 billion per year.   Based on the current federal budget, that is an increase of about 7% in spending.  

        That 7% increase will go a long way toward repairing and extending the social safety net to an approximation of what most wealthy countries take for granted.   Universal pre K, lower prices for prescription drugs, free community college tuition and increased child care tax credits should not be controversial in the 21st century.  But here we are. 

       It all starts with the framing of the bill in question as an extravagant gift to the working and middle class.   The media, controlled by the 1%, wants us to think we can't afford nice things for the majority of the population.   The concentration of wealth at the very top has distorted the way people think of basic fairness.   Although few of us will ever experience Jeff Bezos' level wealth, the framing by the media is it is possible.   Therefore, we must protect the wealth we will never have for those that do have it.   As I have said numerous times, the stupid continues to hurt.

Personal responsibility and mandates

        The day of decision for many state and local employees is fast approaching.   Vaccine mandates for the aforementioned will be kicking in over the next few weeks and a sizable minority of them have said they will resign their relatively well paying jobs rather than be forced to get the jab.  The most vocal minority is state troopers in various jurisdictions.   I hope many if not most of them put in their papers and promptly take up residence in emergency rooms across the northeast.   Culling the herd never made more sense.

Stupid kills

        Too anyone who believes in science, reports that Covid patients in hospital are actually denying they have the disease or alternately demanding treatments including horse worming paste it would seem the silly season is in full swing.   If the results weren't so dire, the spectacle would be funny.   Welcome to the post tRump, post truth era.

        It now seems owning the libs is more important than life itself to the average tRumpista.   At another rally in Georgia on Saturday, the twice impeached failed former president spewed lie after lie about the presidential election  he lost.   Even the Cyber Ninja fraudit in Arizona failed to uncover any voter fraud in Biden's win in Maricopa county.   Yet the faithful continue to believe in the Big Lie and seemingly nothing will move the opinion of nearly 30% of the electorate.   The stupidity continues to hurt...

Shining the light

        In today's NYT, Paul Krugman attempts to answer the mealy mouthed opposition to the Biden administration's human infrastructure bill.   He points out most of the opposition arguments are recycled right wing agitprop from the Reagan era.  The centrist, so called Democratic moderates are either ideological hostages of Republican nonsense or active believers in the "can't do" motto when it comes to actually improving the lives of the average voter.  

 Tiny Denmark manages to rank high on the list of countries whose citizens are actually happy.  It has a high percentage of union membership.   MacDonalds pays their workers the equivalent of $22.00/hr.  Yet, somehow the country is not the hellhole conservatives consistently believe it is.

     Most of the moderates in the Democratic party are actually running for safe seats which will probably not be impacted if the party falls in the 2022 elections.  They need to step up and prove to all of us that liberal governance can improve the average voter's life.  

It's hand wringing time for Democrats

        As the entire Biden agenda threatens to fall into the abyss, the pundit class expresses little or no opinion as to the content of the bills in question.   The argument is  always framed as moderates vs. progressives, or that hoary old cliche, "Dems in disarray".  

      Some on the progressive side are finally pointing fingers at the so-called moderates and asking what part of the bills in question are they prepared to cut.   The three moderates killing  the clause enabling the government to negotiate with big pharma on drug pricing are sucking up millions in contributions by the drug companies.  Likewise, Joe Manchin's donors include many fossil fuel companies.  What is wrong in shining a light on these transactions and watching the cockroaches scurry for cover.

     Without an overarching dogma to fall back on, the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate are fractious to a degree that Republicans, with their devotion to tax cuts for the rich and white supremacy never approach.   Now is the time for Dems to unite around the cause of the 99% and legislate like the existence of representative democracy is on the line.  Because it is.

Optimistic pessimism

       If you believe in small d democracy and the ability of humans to band together and solve the existential problem of climate change, then as Molly Ivins might have said, bless your little heart!   

     If on the other hand you believe we have already squandered our last, best chance to solve climate change and are about to hand our government over to an unholy alliance of oligarchs and fascists, then you are a hard eyed realist.

     I prefer to believe we still have chances to save democracy and the planet, but we need to embrace the moment and call for humanity to assert itself in the 11th hour.   I'm an optimistic pessimist, but I still believe in possibilities and the innate goodness of a significant chunk of the population of the planet.

Death by a thousand cuts

      Trying to enact the "build back better" agenda of the Biden administration is like dying a slow death by a thousand paper cuts.  In this case, each cut represents a lobbyist getting in the face of vulnerable members of congress.   These congresscritters are being reminded they serve not at the pleasure of their voters, but their real paymasters.   To cross the corporations which control the national legislature is to invite severe financial repercussions including banishment from lucrative jobs in the private sector following their "service" to the country.

      The men and women from swing districts who voted for Obamacare in 2009 knew they were signing their political death warrants ahead of the 2010 elections, yet they voted in favor of expanding health care to millions.   What is now at stake is the future of the human race and yet Joe Manchin would seemingly stand athwart the pages of history and yell "enough" and kill perhaps the last, best hope of staving off planetary disaster.   

Birth and death in Alabama

     For the first time in its history, in 2020, deaths outnumbered births in the state of Alabama.  A majority of residents in the state still consider the Covid epidemic a hoax and it still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.  Despite the lyrics to Lynyrd Skynyrd song, it is hardly Sweet Home Alabama  these days.   Racism, misogyny, and now antivaxx sentiment will continue to define one of the most backward states in the union.

the Maga among us

        I took my new puppy for obedience lessons yesterday.   For the most part, Maggie is a sweetheart, but playful puppy nips today can turn ugly and teething on chair legs i a definite no no.  So off to a trainer.   While obeying the trainer's injunction to stay in my car with the pup until it was time to start my hour lesson, I had to listen to him and the previous customer lament the political situation and sympathize with the loser of the last election.   

      The trainer hauled out the "some of my best friends are democrats" chestnut before agreeing with the other man's opinion these Democrats were hell bent on imposing their views on everyone.  Personally, I believe everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions, but failure to agree with the facts on the ground disqualifies one from a rational argument.   The trainer self evidently loves dogs, so I won't let his political views deny Maggie Mae a good doggie education.  I just hope our society is not one step away from allowing political views to dictate our economic and social decisions.

The conundrum

       Charles Blow in today's NYT makes a valid point; that black and brown men, while overwhelmingly loyal to the Democratic party are drawn to the regressive, patriarchal tendencies of the Republican party.   According to blow, nearly 50% of hispanic men and a quarter of black men voted to recall Gavin Newsom as governor of California.

      Blow's prescription is to treat men of color with the same solicitude Democrats accord working class white men.  Crafting policies and voting for them to produce concrete results which make their lives better is a more effective way of garnering enthusiastic support than merely holding up and ridiculing the destructive policies advocated by Republicans.  The fact that in a patriarchal society even black and brown men have a higher standing than almost any woman is the seductive lure of the GOP.  

     Unfortunately, we also live in a racist society which denigrates people of color.   As long as this is the norm, there is only one party which stands for equality and in a binary choice, black and brown men must hold Democrats accountable when they don't live up to the party's credo.   

Covid and recall politics

     Democrats realized last night they have a potent weapon in upcoming elections; Covid sanity.   In the much ballyhooed California recall election yesterday, the lucid members of the electorate voted overwhelmingly to retain the services of Gov. Gavin Newsom at least until the next election.   They firmly rejected to politics of ignorance and hate exemplified by the leading Republican candidate, Larry Elder.

     Obviously, Democrats can't export Covid competence and tRump aversion to a state like Alabama, but in purple states like Arizona and even Ohio, there is a longing for expertise and competence whih bodes well for Democratic candidates in the mid terms next year.   Newsom showed the way to handle extremism and the Republicans wrote a primer on how to exploit the fear and ignorance which is part and parcel of their strategy.   Last night's results show this combination appeals to a shrinking minority of Americans.

Why we can't have nice things

      Even as I write this, Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema are dictating which parts of the Biden Administration's $350 billion/year over 10 years budget reconciliation bill gets enacted.  Most media reports refer to the bill as "the Democrats' $3.5 trillion dollar" bill, neglecting to add it stretches over a 10 year period and is fully paid for by new taxes.  Manchin, cheered on by Republicans says the plan is too ambitious and the tax rate hikes fall too heavily on the wealthiest among us.

     It doesn't help the bill's prospects when the majority of our congresscritters are millionaires or well on their way to being so.   In contrast to the New Deal era, congress has come to represent the interests of the 1% far more than the rest of us.   As one op-ed title opined, our congress is hard wired to pass tax cuts and (non military) spending cuts.

     Unless and until we elect more ordinary Americans as out representatives we will not have nice things.

Tired of the piety

      Let me be clear.   The various attacks on the US by Muslim extremists on 9/11 were horrific and call for censure by all thinking people.   But they should never have given rise to the surveillance state under successive administrations since 2001.  If we had pursued the masterminds of the attacks as law breaking terrorists and used the rule of law to bring them to justice we might have reached a state of closure regarding 9/11.   Instead, we insist on this public hair shirt repentance each anniversary.

     I particularly hate the way Americans reacted to anyone professing a religion even vaguely associated with Islam.  I personally knew a Canadian Sikh truck driver who feared for his life when delivering a load of produce to Pennsylvania in the aftermath of the attacks.   Most of us are better than that, but there is a significant minority of our fellow citizens who allow themselves to fall into the cesspool of hate and intolerance which seems to motivate our worst impulses.  

      So, I say, let us not forget the events of 9/11, but also, let us not be consumed by it.

The whimper

      As many pundits and historians have put it over the years, American democracy will end with a whimper in the night.   Instead of a full on insurrection, a nation which was built on the rule of law will see respect for the law fall away under a thousand cynical assaults.   The Texas abortion law is a case in point.   Instead of a full throated affirmation of a woman's right to sovereignty over her own body, the majority of justices on the Supreme Court chose to de facto uphold a blatantly unconstitutional law banning all abortions in the state after 6 weeks.

     Various laws enacted by Republican controlled legislatures around the country are putting roadblocks up against the exercise of the voting rights of many citizens, especially if they are minorities, women or young voters.   The excuse is "election security".  In reality it is suppression of voters who don't support the authoritarian party the GOP has become.

     Many of us will wake up in the not too distant future and realize too late that democracy has been hamstrung by a minority party which celebrates tyrannical rule for the benefit of the billionaire class and its sycophants.   It is not too late to turn the tide, but the Democratic party must realize it no longer has an opposition party which believes in the Constitution.

Baseball history

      I grew up a dyed in the pinstripe blue of Yankee lore.   My grandfather was proud of Italian-Americans like Tony Lazzeri, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto.  I grew up idolizing Mickey Mantle and the players on the great teams of the 50s and early 60s.   I suffered through the late  60s and early 70s .   

     I remember my eldest daughter's crush on a rookie Yankee shortstop in 1995.  She would watch games just to get a glimpse of #2 as he batted and played the field.  I was ambivalent about Derek Jeter, telling her he would have to put up some awesome numbers to be mentioned in the same breath with Mantle, Gehrig and Ruth.   

    Yesterday, Alicia's intuition regarding Jeter was validated as he was inducted into the  Hall of Fame in Cooperstown along with Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller.   Jeter was a first ballot hall of famer who was the first choice of all but one voter from the baseball writers of America.  His valedictory address was of a piece with his career; an impeccable summation of a career for the ages.   He may not have been the greatest defensive shortstop of his era, but he was the heart and soul of five Yankee championship teams.   I stand corrected Alicia.

Yes, we are divided

        We are a divided nation.   I agree with the premise.  However, the nature of the division is what I dispute.  Up to 40% of the electorate identifies as Democrats, 36% as independents and around 24% as Republicans.  On most issues, a majority of independents agree with Democrats, which means 20% of the population or less agrees with the Republican stand on the issue of masks and Covid vaccination.  So please, media, the next time you trot out the hoary "both sides" journalism which implies the division is a 50-50 split, I hope you show the math behind the split.  It's more like 80-20.

Back to school

       In the year 2021, the phrase, "back to school", has a different meaning than it did in the dim mists of pre Covid history.   Where once it heralded the search for new school clothes and supplies, it now means searching for masks that fit 1st and 2nd graders and worries about them contracting the disease and winding up in a hospital instead of homeroom.

      Parents of young children have every right to be concerned about the possibility of their children becoming infected by the Delta variant of Covid.  One of my grandsons was exposed to Covid at his day care center and as a result must quarantine for a week.  He will not participate in the ritual first day of 1st grade and while his mother will be disappointed and her day disrupted, she will still have an entire school year to deal with.   It's a lot tougher out there than it was a mere 2 years ago.

Labor Day and the American worker

      As more and more Americans work the "gig economy", the entire premise of celebrating the dignity of work on the first Monday of September becomes more and more problematic.   From driving for Uber to taking short term contracts with few or no benefits to two tier labor contracts in the auto industry which pay new workers at a lower rate, the average worker is being screwed over by our corporate overlords.

      For many workers who came of age in the immediate aftermath of WW2, there were plenty of jobs available and companies competed for workers, offering higher wages, generous pensions and health insurance.  The labor movement was respected by most people and the future looked bright.  A high school education was a ticket to lifelong employment.

      Fast forward to the 1980s and the entire dream began to unravel with Reagan and the destruction of the air traffic controllers union.   This was followed by the outsourcing of many good paying jobs to third world countries.   The elites promised to retrain workers for the jobs of the 21st century, but it turns out a small minority of college educated people took the many fewer jobs available, leaving mostly low paying service industry jobs for those with high school education.

     Here we are, celebrating another Labor Day as most of the country falls further and further behind.   That's where the seductive vision of tRumpist populism comes into play.   Joe Manchin and other conservative Democrats who seek to derail programs helping most Americans looking for a better life are playing into the hands of those who either by design or serendipity are involved in the creation of a permanent underclass who will vote against their economic interests in favor of an ideological nihilism.   We can do better.

The summer of our climate discontent

      42 dead in the NYC area and counting.   800.000 customers without electricity in steamy NOLA  this weekend.   Probably over a trillion dollars in damages attributed to just one storm in a relatively active  hurricane season.   Climate change is here with a vengeance, and as with Covid, there are still a fair number of deniers.

     As Paul Krugman notes in today's NYT, there are a number of corporations lining up against the Biden administration's 3.5 trillion dollar human infrastructure and climate change battling initiative because it would raise taxes on their profits to help pay for some of the bill.  Krugman names the Walt Disney corporation as one of those publicly saying the right things while actively working behind the scenes to oppose the Build Back Better bill.   As he says, these actors should be named and shamed.  We are approaching the zero hour in which we can do anything to slow and reverse the worst effects of climate change.  

The dog finally caught the car

        When Roe vs. Wade was decided in the early 1970s, it was only controversial among a small coterie of activists on either side of the issue.  The vast majority of Americans had no opinion one way or the other.   Fast forward 50 years and abortion rights is lightning rod among a large minority of citizens.  

      Those who favor a woman's right to control over her body are diametrically opposed by those who say human life begins at conception and the unborn fetus has rights which trump all other rights the putative mother may claim.   While many who hold the latter view are whole hearted in their advocacy, many are cynically encouraged to demonstrate by so called "culture warriors" who are overwhelmingly Republican office holders and operatives.

       Forbidding women to abort and forcing them to bring unwanted pregnancies to term is the hold grail which the GOP has encouraged, much like a dog chasing a car.   Neither the Republicans nor the dog ever expected to catch the car and I don't think they really have a plan if the impossible should happen.  

      The decision yesterday by the Supreme Court to not enjoin the Texas law which prohibits abortion after six weeks hands a major victory to one side.  It will, however, create a firestorm of opposition on the part of women who believe in empowerment and the men who support them.  The dog will be having second thoughts in the very near future!

Servicing those mortgages

      Pity the poor defense contractors and lobbyists.   The cost of living in the DC area is among the highest in the country and the cost of those golf club memberships!  How will they recoup their share of the $300 million/day spigot of government spending President Biden just shut off.   That's how much America spent every day for the past 20 years in Afghanistan.

     It amazes me the same people who advocate "forever wars" and its attendant military spending say we can't have nice things in this country, including universal health care, maintaining infrastructure and child care.  I think a majority of my fellow citizens agree with Biden it is time to bury the Bush doctrine and focus instead on our own country and its needs. 

Crisis week for Biden?

     To read the NYT or Washington Post, you would assume the Biden administration was going down in disgrace.  Instead of celebrating or at least citing the statistics of the largest ever airlift of civilians from a war zone, all the media can do is push the " bungled" operation.   In the wake of the most powerful storm ever to hit Louisiana, all the pundits can do is lament the situation is not as bad as after Katrina, hoping for photos of people clinging to rooftops awaiting rescue.

      Biden is far from perfect, but so far an administration built on people with real world expertise instead of political connections or nepotism has so far negotiated the challenges of a balky congress, the Afghan withdrawal and Hurricane Ida with competence if not aplomb.   

The Brown Ocean

       Amid the coverage of Hurricane Ida as it hit Louisiana yesterday, I was struck by a phrase used by Al Roker to describe the counterintuitive status quo as the storm stayed a category 4 even several hours after making landfall.  Roker said the saturated soil and wet marshy areas acted like a "brown ocean", supplying the storm with moisture.   I guess we'll have to get used to a new nomenclature as climate change becomes more entrenched.

      Hurricanes which strengthen from a Cat 1 to a monster 4 overnight.  Western states where wildfires burn areas the size of Connecticut in a week and third world countries facing drought induced famine.  Meanwhile, we argue about whether to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan.  What is wrong with this picture?

This ain't beanbag

       Nearly 24 hours after an attack at the Kabul airport left 13 soldiers dead, howls of grief from left, right and center bombarded anyone watching cable news.  Had these same men and women died at a remote outpost in the Afghanistan while the country was fully occupied I wonder how much outrage would have been displayed.

   Of course the above was a rhetorical question.   The American foreign policy blob is firmly in favor of continuing the policy of Empire, built on the bones of thousands of American casualties and hundreds of thousands of dead in occupied countries.   Ask Vietnam, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan how they like American intervention in their countries.   The constituency for empire is outraged Biden is ending the profitable Afghan intervention.  He is one of their own, but has proved less pliable than his predecessors.  Does he have the courage to end the Pax Americana?

Messy, but realistic

      The Biden administration is being tested by two very different crises which will impact its ability to govern through 2024.   The withdrawal from Afghanistan is being handled about as well as can be expected considering the policy goals Biden has advocated for years.  No matter what the armchair generals and keyboard commandos say, there was no realistic way to make up for 20 years of bad decisions in 6 months.   Combine that with the military brasses' slow motion sabotage of the withdrawal and you have handed the war cheering media a club with which to beat the government.

      The Covid crisis presents a very different problem to Biden's administration.  A small but very vocal anti-vax and right wing minority are willing to swallow any anti science stupidity if it advances their nihilistic agenda.   Again, the media has in many cases played the useful idiot for the unvaccinated, portraying thugs like Ron Desantis as heroes.   Meanwhile, no matter what we do in the US, the majority of the global population remains out of reach of the vaccine and perhaps worse strains than the Delta variant are even now breeding among them.   

     As Ezra Klein points out in a column in the NYT, America's foreign policy for too long has defaulted to a militaristic solution.   We have put ourselves in an impossible position in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan by using military force as policy.   We can do better.  

National politics gets local

       The front page of my local paper reflected a more national issue this morning as a local man with a shotgun was arrested yesterday after he aimed the weapon at another man and screamed at him "You don't belong here" or words to that effect.   Casey Nolan, whose name would seem to bely a foreign ethnic background immediately called police who arrested the unnamed man on weapons charges. 

      What is going on in our country?   Obviously, the arrested man has been mainlining far right wing news for a very long time to get to where he is right now.   The fact he was willing to wave a weapon in the direction of a fellow citizen and scream racist rants is a troubling escalation in the direction pointed to by the January 6 insurrectionists who assaulted the Capitol.   These people are starting to confuse right wing fantasy with reality and it is likely to get worse instead of better.  Fortunately in this case, no one was hurt.  However it is just a matter of time before someone's perceived grievance leads to tragedy.   I would like to say we are better than this, but stories like this sometimes make me doubt the comity of my fellow Americans.

A definite upgrade

        As of 12:01 this morning, New York has a new governor.   Kathy Hocul, an upstate politician who served as Lt. Governor under Andrew Cuomo during his second and third terms becomes the first female governor of the state.

       Much like Kirsten Gillibrand, Hocul was elected to Congress from a fairly conservative upstate district in 2011 in a special election to replace a Republican accused of sexual impropriety.  After losing following redistricting, she became Cuomo's running mate in his second run for governor.  She has moved far to the left of her original political views as she ran statewide campaigns.  It remains to be seen how she will act as governor in blue state NY.

      It is really not a tough act to follow.  Cuomo was/is widely reviled in New York.  Even before his sexual harassments were revealed, his penchant for hardball politics, often at the expense of the liberal agenda made him a pariah in progressive circles.   Hocul starts her time as governor with a honeymoon as politicians on both sides of the aisle try to determine how she will handle the reins of power.  As I said, as long as she can avoid scandal, she can hardly do worse than Cuomo.   I look forward to a less corrupt New York and hope she can build momentum to run for a full term next year.

I'm seeing fire and rain

      Apologies to James Taylor, but his aptly titled song fits the time today perhaps more than when he wrote it.   Central Tennessee was inundated by up to 17 inches of rain which turned placid creeks into raging rivers and has killed 22 people and counting.   Tropical Storm Henri while not a significant wind event continues to pound the coastal northeast US with up to 8 inches of rain in some places.  Scientists tell us a warming atmosphere can hold much more moisture leading to the tragedy in Tenn. and the ongoing thrashing of the Northeast.

     Meanwhile, the west continues to burn as the years long drought conditions also exacerbated by climate change place agriculture and people in the crosshairs of water restrictions.   There may be enough water for continued growth in the west, but the spectacle of watering lawns in the desert will rapidly become an historic anomaly.  

     Our response to the slow motion disaster which is climate change will be judged harshly by future generations.  I don't subscribe to doomsday scenarios, but our descendants will be cleaning up our mistakes for generations and they won't be happy about it.   Like the tobacco companies before them, the fossil fuel industry has known about the pernicious effects of adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere for at least 50 years and has passively and actively sabotaged efforts to reduce our dependence on coal and oil.   The industry must acknowledge its complicity and begin amelioration efforts.  In other news, the government has announced we will all be getting ponies for Christmas...