Time to use executive power

       After the holiday airline debacle featuring Southwest Airlines cancelling thousands of flights due to insufficient numbers of crews to staff the planes there is pent up anger among consumers.  Meanwhile, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is conspicuous by his absence from the debate.  While he has no direct power to order the airlines to compensate consumers for egregious actions, he has plenty of coercive power to make the airlines uncomfortable.  He can at least hold them accountable for the scheduling which resulted in many flight cancellations.

      As Republicans in the House prepare to go all Hunter Biden all the time, the Biden administration will have to use its executive authority to the max in order to get anything done during he next 2 years.  The various cabinet secretaries have the power.  Will they use it?

What's Goin' On

       I believe I have quoted the iconic Marvin Gaye's immortal refrain before.  In a world gone mad, it is the most perceptive question one can ask.  Gaye was referring to the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and societal breakdown as centuries' long taboos were challenged. 

      We face more existential threats today.   Climate destruction, nuclear proliferation and tRumpism occupy most of the time not devoted to making a living in a rapidly changing world.  What's goin' on, indeed.

The new Gilded Age

       The Brits have the royal family to obsess over.   Here in the US we consciously advocate for a meritocracy, however, we are agog at the antics of the billionaire class.

      Having enough of the "superrich" to constitute a class is a relatively recent phenomenon.  I can remember when Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and a few others were the only billionaires in the world.  With the recent run up of stock prices, there are literally hundreds of billionaires around the world.  You can argue they are a class above the merely wealthy.   These are people who travel in private jets.  They have legions of yes men who will take care of their every whim.

     The public for the most part believes these wealthy people can do no wrong, unless caught in the act like the recent fall of crypto king Sam Bankman Fried.   We unconsciously attribute super human powers to the billionaires as if the act of making money has put them beyond the ken of us mere mortals.  

     We did the same thing in the era which gave us John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and many others.   We woke from the Gilded Age when Teddy Roosevelt started treating them like they were our fellow citizens.   What will it take to shake off the current idolization of wealth in America?

Farcial tragedy or tragic farce

      The Divine Mrs. M and I watched the 2nd installment of the "Knives Out" series by director Rian Johnson and "ripped from the headlines" doesn't do it justice.   The Glass Onion was made before Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried imploded as the nation witnessed, but its premise could have been extracted from the id of either of them.  I won't do any spoilers, but would only suggest you see the movie, currently on Netflix.

Feeling the love

      It's hard to feel the Christmas spirit with a cold rain falling from a grey sky with more on the way.  All the carols in the world won't make sky lighten up and frankly, in many parts of the world, Santa will have to watch for anti-aircraft fire on Christmas Eve.   So, what's to celebrate?

      It's going to be family traditions which will redeem Christmas this year.   We'll gather on Christmas morning and celebrate another year with a festive brunch and thanks to the Divine Mrs. M a tree loaded with presents for one and all.  Later, we'll gather for dinner and count our blessings.  It doesn't sound too exciting, but that's what the holiday means to me.

      I hope all the readers of this blog celebrate the season in whatever way gives you the most joy.  Merry Christmas to all!!

Zelensky and freedom

       I watched Zelensky's speech to the joint session of Congress last night.   No one will ever mistake him for Winston Churchill.   There are no deathless quotes such as Churchill's " We will fight them on the beaches," speech in 1940.  He did, however project confidence and calm while making the case for continued support from the West as Ukraine continues to fight Russia to a standstill.  He is now a world historical leader.

       It remains to be seen if the many standing ovations he received last night translate into monetary support in the next Congress.  It will be difficult for Republicans to back away from Zelensky after the outpouring of support on the House floor.   Not since the Nazi occupation of Sudatenland in the runup to WW2 has there been such a clear cut case of naked aggression.   Let's hope the world reacts better than it did in 1938.

What George Santos' lies say about America

      It seems another tRump supporter has been shown as a pathological liar.   According to a recent NYT story, the recently elected congressman did not graduate from Baruch College, did not work for Goldman-Sachs and probably is in legal trouble in his home country of Brazil.   The New York State Democratic party is still trying to formulate some excuses for its laughable oppo research of Santos and the state's Republican party is bound to be criticized for not vetting him more extensively.

      I doubt it would have made much difference if everyone had done their diligence.   Much of Santos' district is in suburban Long Island which seems to be in the throes of Democrat derangement syndrome.  If tRump wins the 2024 GOP nomination for president, I'm sure he will carry Nassau and Suffolk counties by double digits.   Much like the Dixie Chicks and Texas, I am ashamed to say I grew up on L.I.

     What Santos' campaign says about America is we seem to live down to P.T. Barnum's oft quoted maxim concerning suckers, "  There's one born every minute".

Winter

       We received 14 inches of heavy, wet snow on Friday and  Saturday.  This resulted in severe damage to many shrubs on our property.   Some are merely bent over under the snowload, while others are showing numerous broken branches.   There will be a ton of clean up required at some point.  Normally in this area, the snowfall that just happened would be with us until March or April.  However, the forecast for Friday includes temperatures in the 50s and a 1/2 inch of rain.   So, a White Christmas is in the cards, but there will be hints of green for those of us who prefer that state of affairs.

Same as the old boss

       As tRump devolves into his old huckster persona, pushing $99 trading cards with his ''likeness" (if you consider a muscle rippling hulk with laser eyes to be his default setting) to his credulous fans, it looks like GOP voters in the middle are looking for alternatives for their presidential nominee in 2024.  Florida governor Ron DeSantis is the most mentioned name, but as Paul Krugman points out in today's NYT, DeSantis has descended into nearly as many rabbit holes as tRump.  

      DeSantis is trying to become the nation's chief anti-vaxxer even as his state is one of the leaders in daily covid death rates.   He is bringing the full force of his bullying persona to bear on the issue.  To some observers this whole episode reminds us of former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker who sought to become the face of the anti union movement in 2014.   We all know how that turned out.

     DeSantis may beat tRump in a one on one contest, but as the latter weakens in the public debate, more candidates will jump into the contest.  There, Cheeto Jesus' followers will allow him to win some primaries with less than a majority vote.   This will build momentum in later contests and the 2016 scenario could then be plausible.  I'm not sure what to hope for.  

AI is coming for you

       The release of a new AI program called ChatGPT is getting critics knickers in a twist.   Echoing the complaints of previous generations at the inception of any new technology, critics say the program, which can reason at the level of a reasonably bright high school student will lead inexorably to more cheating and less learning. 

      Personally, the image ChatGPT generates in my mind is the proverbial camel's nose getting underneath the tent.  Aside from some niggling criticism about how it will lead to less thinking at the high school and college level, most people aren't engaged with the next step in AI, when it becomes more intelligent than the average human.

      We aren't in Skynet territory yet, but sometime in the not to distant future we may be dealing with robot overlords.   The time to think about the ramifications of ChatGPT and similar programs is now.

Is it greed?

        Carlos Correa, arguably the best remaining free agent shortstop has signed with the San Fransisco Giants for 13 years.  He will collect $350 million in guaranteed money.   Is this greed, or fair market value to a multi-billion dollar franchise.

      Compare Correa, Aaron Judge and other multimillionaire free agents with Samuel Bankman-Fried.  SBF as he is now known was arrested the other day for scamming crypto investors out of nearly 3 billion dollars.   The ballplayers are workmen, plying their trade.  SBF basically stole the money he accumulated and gambled much of it away in an attempt to cover the evidence of embezzlement.  

     It may be self evident to most of us, but Aaron Judge and SBF operate in entirely different universes;  one is the honest exchange of skill for money, the other a scam, motivated by greed.

Baby it's cold out there!

      It was 9 degrees outside at 6 a.m. this morning.  The last of the kale was huddled in one corner of the garden, probably done for the season.  There are a couple of inches of snow on the ground and a winter storm is possible this weekend.  I guess winter is here in earnest.

     Much of the British Isles are in an emergency due to cold weather.   It has been snowing for several days and with record high energy prices many people are faced with the choice; heat or eat.   The climate in England is dependent on the Gulf Stream bringing warm weather from the tropics to keep the climate mild.   with climate change, the warm water conveyor may be interrupted.  The country is at the same lattitude as Labrador and Iceland, so you can imagine the chaos this would cause.   

      Climate change is not a one way ticket to warm winters for everyone.  While countries near the equator may experience life threatening hot weather, other areas, including Europe and the northeastern US will experience colder weather at least in the short term.   

Elon and crypto

     I don't know if Elon Musk endorses or invests in crypto currency, but I'm guessing he is in on both counts.  Oh, wait, he has been caught endorsing "dogecoin", whatever that is.   As his latest twitter rants show, he has the perfect conspiratorial mindset to be a big crypto booster.

     Musk has by now disabused anyone who bought into the "financially conservative, socially liberal" meme so many news organizations have fluffed him with.   It turns out he is as around the bend as that crazy uncle you will have to welcome into your home this holiday season.  It is no longer a liberal thing to prove your ideological bona fides by buying a Tesla.  It never was for many conservatives.  Who will buy what is essentially an overpriced vehicle that is increasingly matched or exceeded in quality by legacy auto manufacturers?

     Perhaps his next gig will be as a commenter on the Fox News financial desk.  The reputation of crypto needs another high profile billionaire booster.  

pawns in the great game

       During the height of the British Empire in the mid 19th century, the Brits and Russia engaged in what was euphemistically called "The Great Game" on the borders of what is now India and Pakistan and the Russian Empire.    It was mostly in the context of spying on one another and trying to destabilize each other's territory.

      The US and Russia are playing a variation of that same game with the exchange of Britney Griner for a Russian arms dealer.   Victor Bout had already served 10 years of a 25 year sentence for arms trafficking, while Griner was beginning a 9 year sentence for alledgely having a few grams of cannabis oil in her luggage.  The Russians had the advantage over their US counterparts due to Griner's sympathetic story.  They won this particular episode of the great game.

Pride of the Yankees redux

      If there ever was a worthy successor to the Iron Horse, Aaron Judge surely is the one.  Lou Gehrig, rather than Babe Ruth was the iconic Yankee.  Quietly putting up HOF numbers every year without Ruth's bombast, he was the anchor of perhaps the greatest team ever assembled.  Judge has been doing it for 5 years, when healthy and is finally being recognized for his accomplishments.

     I know it seems like a symbol of our dysfunctional society to pay a man hundreds of millions of dollars to hit and throw a baseball.   The fact the Yankee club is worth more than 6 billion gives the lie to that argument.  Hal Steinbrenner needs Judge more than Judge needs the Yankees.  It was within his power to extract even more money had he wanted to push, but like Gehrig, number 99 chose a legacy.  Now, it is up to him to put up the numbers for at least the next 5 or 6 years to justify his place in Cooperstown.

     The larger issue here is an indictment of the entire player compensation system.  For the first several years of a player's career they are basically indentured servants, performing for peanuts in the hope of a free agent payday.   Many are injured and never get to cash in.  The average career length for a MLB ballplayer is only a few years, and Judge's trajectory is the exception, not the rule.  It will take union militancy for ballplayers to adjust the system to eliminate abuses.  In the meantime, elite players like Judge will reap outsize rewards.  More power to them.

phew

     A durable coalition of blacks, latinos, asians and college educated liberal whites prevailed last night in Georgia.   Their candidate, Rev. Rhaphael Warnock beat the MAGA party's nominee, Herschel Walker by 2 percetn in the runoff election.  It shouldn't have been that close.

    Walker was a deeply flawed candidate with little to recommend him if you subtract his football stardom from his resume.   His intellectual and moral failings were on full display in the general election and the runoff, yet he was able to come within a whisper of winning.  Warnock, a gifted politician in the Barack Obama mode, left it all on the field as he and his organization spent tens of millions to reach a few Republican voters who couldn't hold their noses long enough to vote for Walker.  In the end, along with his GOTV efforts it proved enough.

    Our politics have gotten so partisan that as one pundit put it, Republicans could nominate a soggy pile of mashed potatoes for office and as long as there was an R next to it, 90% of Republican voters would pull the lever for potatoes.  (Sorry Mr. Shulman for insulting potatoes).  

      It shouldn't be this way.  However, until the GOP summons up the will to repudiate the 20-25% of their voters who would destroy democracy in the name of Cheeto Jesus, we will see more candidates like Walker.  

A moment of truth

       Despite the media's best efforts to make the Georgia Senate runoff into a close horserace, Raphael Warnock will win by at least 4 percentage points as voters reject the joke candidacy of Herschel Walker.  I may regret the previous sentence later today, but I believe the stakes are high enough that a majority of voters have educated themselves enough to make an intelligent choice.

Believe

         When the failed former president says we should wad up the Constitution like so much used toilet paper and flush it down, we should believe that is exactly what he would do if he were in a position of trust today.

        tRump can feel the walls closing in with more than a 1/2 dozen investigations gearing up to either indict him on felony charges or sue him in civil courts.  He has delayed most of them with an army of lawyers filing frivolous objections and appealing every lower court ruling against him.  Sooner than most of us think he will run out of excuses and the reckoning will begin.  The final bullet in his arsenal is the claim the election of 2020 was stolen somehow.  

      As anyone with a rudimentary grasp of politics knows, this is a hollow claim and a virtual impossibility.  But tRump and a significant number of his followers would throw the Constitution under the bus to facilitate the return of his lawless administration.   Believe him when he says that and act accordingly.

Cryptomania

       I preface this post by admitting I know next to nothing about crypto currency and blockchains.   I never even thought about investing in bitcoin because I simply can't imagine what it might be good for other than illegal transactions.  When somebody can show me the utility of using cryptocurrency to buy a cup of coffee at my local Stewarts Shops, I'll think about it. 

      Which brings me to the latest but surely not the last crypto scandal in which a "whiz kid" promised outsize returns investing in alternate currency.   Alas, it looks like he simply stole his customers' investments and spent much of it living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.  Billions were lost by credulous investors.

      As Paul Krugman points out in today's NYT, most, if not all the companies who attempted to use blockchains in their businesses have given up since the technology is not superior to what they had been using.  Threats of government regulation will probably be the final nail in the coffin of the crypto bubble.  So much for the get rich quick scheme; until the next one.  It's human nature at its least attractive moment.

The man for no seasons

       That someone would waste their time voting for Herschel Walker for any position of trust is perhaps the easiest question about the 2022 elections to answer.   It's all about the tribe.  In this case the tribe of Republicans at any cost.  Competence, dignity, decorum; Walker fails all three, yet he still has a shot to be elected to the US Senate.

      If, in some parallel universe, Walker was running on the Democratic line, I find it hard to believe he would have garnered enough support to force a runoff election.  Certainly the Lindsay Graham's of the world would be pointing out the hypocrisy of running a totally unqualified candidate mainly because of the color of his skin.  Of course, that hasn't stopped the GOP from running any number of idiots for the Senate for that very reason.   

     Hopefully the overwhelming number of scandals Walker is dragging around with him will finally convince voters of his unfitness to serve, but I have a feeling this election will be closer than it should due to our ultra partisan politics.

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Paved with sedition

       Despite the prospect of appeal, it looks like Stewart Rhodes, the Yale educated insurrectionist will be spending his golden years in federal prison.  Unless of course Cheeto Jesus manages to avoid the same fate and wins the election in 2024.

       Rhodes, a former staffer of Ron Paul was tried and convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6 riot at the Capitol in 2021.   The charge is rarely made and the evidence must be overwhelming to convince a jury the person in the dock actually wanted to overthrow a legitimately elected government.  Assuming the DOJ makes good on Merrick Garland's pledge to hold everyone involved in the insurrection accountable this conviction bodes ill for the twice impeached failed former president.

Kale, politics and advent

      A more diverse trio would be hard to imagine, but yesterday, after some rain and warm weather, I continued to harvest kale in the garden.  After two weeks of freezing temperatures which put everything else besides the collard greens into a season ending swoon, the kale looked none the worse for wear.  As long as it can take up moisture through its roots, kale is good down to temps in the low teens.  Collards are a little more tender, but so far they are surviving also.

     Meanwhile, in politics, Mike Pence can't seem to make up his mind whether to grovel at the altar of tRump or commit sacrilege and go his own way.  Kevin McCarthy continues to try and placate the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene in order to secure enough votes for the Speakership.  Why he wants to subject himself to the humiliation this will eventually come his way is beyond my understanding.

     Finally, tis the season for the Divine Mrs. M and I to sing in our chorus.   This year's concert will feature Handel's Messiah and it promises to be a glorious rendition if I do say so myself.  If you are in Plattsburgh this coming weekend we will be performing at 3 p.m. on Sunday in the Giltz auditorium at Plattsburgh State.  Come one, come all.

Not so mighty

        According to a recent article in the NYT, excessively dry weather in its watershed has left long stretches of the Mississippi River at the lowest levels seen since records have been kept.  The piece goes on to say that shipping will become more expensive for the $17 billion agricultural products which pass down the river to ports on the Gulf of Mexico.  The lower water levels will force shippers to put less weight on barges which will increase traffic on the diminished river.

      The same thing is happening on the Rhine river in Europe.  Even popular river cruises are being interrupted by low water levels.   Much of Germany's industrial production moves on the Rhine, so it will cost more to transport goods, again leading to higher prices for consumers.

     We face an existential crisis as climate change becomes more apparent and starts affecting things like water levels in rivers.  It is a short step from higher freight pricing to water shortages and rationing in cities around the world.   The alarm bells are ringing.   Will we answer them or hit the snooze button one more time?

Will it ever end?

        Sarah Palin lost her bid to "represent" Alaska in the House of Representatives.   Does this mean our long national nightmare is over.  One can hope.  However, her spiritual descendants, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene have Palin's stchick down, so no, the nightmare will continue.  

      How Palin came to represent all the worst impulses of the GOP is fodder for a doctoral thesis,  but to put it in plain terms, Palin was and her ideological soul mates in the 2020s combine the American male fetishization of women with a toxic shout out to the worst, sexist impulses of the white male party members.  Had she been a little more on point during the 2008 campaign, she would have been a heartbeat away from the presidency.  If she was a little less lazy, she could have captured the 2012 nomination.   Fortunately for us, she was and is too lazy to even finish a term as Alaska's governor.

     On such slender threads hang our democracy...

Deja Vu

      Another day, another mass shooting.  Five innocents massacred plus a dead shooter a couple of days before Thanksgiving in Chesapeake, Virginia.  I can hear the thoughts and prayers already.  I get so tired of the pathetic excuses offered by politicians as to why they are unable to formulate policies to end the carnage.  At least stand up and admit you are bought and paid for shills of the firearms industry.

Another day, another hate crime

       Colorado Springs was the scene of yet another mass shooting over the weekend, with 5 people confirmed dead and many injured.   It probably would have been a lot worse if not for quick action by club patrons who disarmed and restrained the gunman until police arrived.  

      The state simultaneously elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor in the US and Lauren Boebert, a gun toting right wing crank.  Colorado has been trending more and more Democratic recently, but there are still areas where hatemongers like Boebert can still find support.  Much like New York, Colorado is dominated by a single large city which tends to distort what would otherwise be a fairly red state.

     Right wing violence will continue to be a problem in this country as long as unstable and impressionable people continue to be radicalized and have access to weapons of mass destruction like the AR-15 the gunman was carrying.   It is a problem facing red and blue states and I'm not sure what can be done to curb the violence.

Long live the Queen

       The Queen of Democratic politics, Nancy Pelosi, said yesterday she will not run for a leadership position in the next Congress.  Although she indicated she will remain as a member of the House at least for the short term, I doubt she will stay until the 2024 elections.   Perhaps the most effective Speaker in history, Pelosi became a lightning rod for Republicans who rained down a toxic mixture of partisan rancor and misogyny on her.

      Pelosi's political savvy is unmatched, but at 82 years of age with an ailiing spouse who survived an attack by a nutcase looking to kneecap her if she had been present, it is time to pass the reins to a younger generation.   So, instead of misogyny, the new majority leader, likely Hakeem Jeffries, will have to deal with racism.   Welcome to the world of partisan politics, circa 2022.

Media complicity

      I'm not a big consumer of weekend political TV.  Most of the hosts on the major networks seem to prefer Republicans as guests.   the excuse when the GOP is out of power is we need to hear what the opposition is thinking.  When Republicans are in power we need to hear what they will do with the power.  Funny how that doesn't seem to work for Democrats in either case.  Most Democrats want to talk about boring policy issues, while most Republicans want to throw red meat to their base.  Easy choice.

      Most Mainstream media are fluffing Ron DeSantis, the mini-tRump governor  of Florida.  He is seen as an alternative to tRump, although he projects the same in your face politics as the twice impeached failed former president.   The media is looking for the next Republican Daddy.  Dog help us all.

The Once and Future..

       So, Donald J. tRump promised yesterday to torment us for the next 2 years with his relentlessly anti-democratic brand of politics.  Calling our country a "cesspool full of blood" (does he really believe this stuff?) he vowed to do something about it, although the pundits who sat through the bloviation were not entirely sure what that something was.

      Barring some unforeseen economic catastrophe, America will be in far better shape in 2024 as all the nationwide infrastructure projects kick in, inflation worries recede and the Biden administration continues to support policies helpful to the middle class.  Aside from the 30% of Republican voters who continue to drink the Kool Aid the rest of the country has moved on.  He may well garner the GOP presidential nomination, but his candidacy will be an unmitigated disaster for the party.

A spotty race for Congress

     Despite the lack of a "Red Wave" in the midterm elections, Republicans are poised to take over the House thanks to Democratic missteps in New York.  At least 4 eminently winnable districts were taken by Republicans.   In part, the NY State Supreme court is to blame for banning a Democratic drawn redistricting map which probably would have led to an easier path for donkey candidates.

     More truoubling is the performance of some candidates who took their reelection for granted.  I'm looking at you Sean Patrick Maloney.  After pushing progressive congressman Mondaire Jones out of his redrawn district, Maloney proceeded to alienate the grassroots organizers in the district and spent a couple of the final weeks of the campaign "fundraising" in Europe.   He was outworked by his opponent who won in a Biden plus 5 district.  

      Another part of the problem is the political composition of NY.  The state is essentially Alabama with New York City dropped into the middle.   Birmingham's suburbs are probably more liberal than my congressional district where the execrable Elise Stefanik won by 20 points over a fairly conservative Democrat.  Still, without Maloney's miscues, we might have made the difference in holding the House. 

End of the season

     Except for a few housekeeping chores, it looks like the gardening season is over in the north country.  With temps in the 20s last night, most of the greens looked depressingly frozen.   The exception was the kale which seemed immune from the cold.  I still have to mulch the garlic and clean up a couple of beds.  The forecast for the next 10 days is for below normal temperatures, so most of the golf courses in the area will probably close for the season also.  Here comes the season of my discontent!

A semi circular firing squad

       Democrats are slowly coming to grips with the fact that voters in most cases prefer them over their Republican equivalent.  Promising and actually doing something to make the average American's life better is a popular position.  Who knew?

     In previous elections where Dems were on the losing side, a circular firing squad was engaged with the help of mostly Republican leaning pundits and a bloodbath ensued.  Miraculously, when the next election rolled around and Dems found themselves on the winning side while espousing the same policies as in their previous effort they were at a loss in the blame department.

     This time around, the GOP has become a parody of a political party and its lack of a policy program turned off many Republicans and independents.   Meanwhile, the backlash to the Dobbs decision drove a new coalition to the polls and virtually swamped the so called red wave.  Dems and pundits are looking for someone to blame, but so far the firing squad is silent.

Will young voters and women stay the course

 Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by both parties on the 2022 elections and only a precious few contests were affected by the prolific amounts of cash.   For instance, in Florida, Val Demings raised and spent nearly 72 million dollars and was overwhelmed by Marco Rubio.  Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Mandela Barnes will probably lose to Ron (dumbest man in the Senate) Johnson by less than one point as he was swamped by an October ad blitz which he could not respond to.

    Most of the races Dems won were powered by younger voters and women who see Republicans for what they are, tribunes for the wealthy and those who believe in the culture war issues, namely the evangelical and reactionary base of the party.  The enthusiasm of younger voters will be tested again in two years as the GOP bids for a veto proof majority in the Senate.  Traditionally, aging voters tend to be more "conservative" and Republicans are counting on that and appeals to black and Latino men to bolster their numbers in the face of demographic destiny.  I hope this will hold, otherwise things will become rather grim.

A red trickle

         Staying away from wall to wall election coverage last night made for a lot less stress.  That Democrats outperformed expectations made this morning's TV watching more enjoyable.    The candidate of hate in the NY governor's race was defeated, albeit by an underwhelming margin.  Thanks to an evenhanded state supreme court NY Dems could not gerrymander like some Republican controlled states which has set the stage for several GOP pickups in upstate.  Of course Elise Stefanik won her race in my district.  Absent some major scandal she could have beaten Jesus Christ if he was running on the Democratic line.  

      We won''t know for several days if Dems retained control of Congress or narrowly lost it, but all in all it was a good night for the party and by extension for small d democracy.

Acting out

       Despite most American's protestations they favor democracy, a significant subset of the population have a fairly twisted idea of what government by the people is all about.   Most Republicans support candidates who deny our elections are free and fair, including the failed, twice impeached former president.   It comes down to many, if not most in the GOP wanting a "strong" leader who will tell them what to do and what to think.  

      Writers from George Orwell to Aldous Huxley to Upton Sinclair have warned us of what happens when we put our trust in authoritarian leaders.  Truth is the first casualty when fascists take over.  Individual freedom is next.  

      Today's elections are not a make or break moment in American history, but it may be a turning point.

Blocking the noise

        I have officially muted the sounds of election coverage on TV and newspapers at least until after the elections.   The endless and pointless scorekeeping by the media is so over the top at this point it makes the call of the Kentucky Derby seem tame by comparison.  I will do my civic duty tomorrow and hope a large majority of my fellow citizens do likewise.

Scary times for democracy

       The Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin stated at a rally that Republicans will never lose another election in the state if he is elected.  The state is roughly split between Democrats and Republicans, but thanks to gerrymandering the GOP is practically guaranteed a majority in the state legislature even if they get less than 50% of the vote.   This is the model Republicans in other states will pursue.

       As former president Obama has stated it is not farfetched to picture the American experiment with pluralistic democracy die in the short term if Republicans gain control of more state legislatures in the run up to the 2024 elections.  Just as the Jim Crow laws in the south led to 90 years of authoritarian rule by white supremacists, voter suppression laws have the potential to lock in GOP majorities for years to come.   The threat is real and we need to take it seriously.

The real crime wave

      In a recent gubernatorial debate in Oklahoma, the Democratic challenger stated the murder rate in that state was higher than New York City's.  On a per capita basis, the data backs up the challenger's assertion.  Instead of engaging with the argument, the Republican just chuckled as if his opponent had made some embarrassing faux pas.

      Rural America is not some iteration of Mayberry RFD.  Awash in guns and drugs, murder and other violent crimes are much more prevalent than Republicans care to admit.  Instead, they yell about Antifa and Black Lives Matter demonstrators and depict big cities as urban hellholes where citizens lives are in constant danger.  Until people begin to agree on basic facts, voters will be treated as ignorant rubes subject to manipulation.

Journalistic Malpractice

       As one pundit noted this morning there are hardly any stories in the mainstream media about the immigration situation at the southern border.   This includes the legendary "caravans of doom" swarming towards the US from Central America during the 2020 elections.  Editorial decisions for many papers and media outlets seem to be made by Republican operatives, not independent editors.  Many claim this is an artifact of the liberal media trope.  Nowadays, most of the media is owned by giant corporations whose agenda aligns more with Republicans than Democrats.  It doesn't take much to slant the news one way or another and it is abundantly clear to any neutral observer which way the slant is going these days.

It's the perception, stupid

        The economy is down, or is it?  Elections are rigged, or are they?  The Republican party has turned to fascism, or has it?   All these topics seem to come down to perception.  Most people, if asked about their own economic prospects are upbeat.  They think the other guy is having a tough time.   Most Republicans profess the 2020 presidential election was stolen, although many Republicans managed to win down ballot races.  Many, if not most non-Republicans feel the GOP has become the party of fascism.  But few in the party now will buy into that statement.

      We are now in an era where social media is the primary source for most people looking for information.   The legacy media; newspapers, television and printed books are falling by the wayside as people remained glued to their phones.   

    It is tempting to go with the flow and believe the truth is a malleable commodity to be determined by individuals.  But no, truth and facts are immutable.   Perception, however is far harder to define and in today's media environment is impossible to predict.

Stepping back from the edge

      It looks like the Brazilian people by a razor thin margin have ushered Jair Bolsonaro out of office and installed Ignacio lula da Silva as president.   Lula carries a heavy load of political baggage, but as I said last week he is the frail hope of those who would see the Amazon rain forest preserved for future generations.

     Much like Biden over tRump and Macron over Le Pen in France, voters seem to be rejecting fascism and at least affirming their support for a democratic regime in these countries.   The jury is out on the prospects for Italy and Hungary in this regard.  What causes us to walk right up to Mussolini or Hitler style fascism only to step back at the last second?  I think it is all about power.  Not the power to the people movements in the 1960s, but power to crush the "other" and affirm the supremacy of our own tribe.  In most cases these days it is the angst of whites confronting a demographic wave which they feel will sweep them into irrelevance.

    On a worldwide basis, whites are a rather small minority.  Concentrated in Europe and the Americas, whites are responsible for many of the world's ills as well as much of the technology which enables modernity.   We need to accept our place in the world and work for everyone's betterment.  Let's hope Lula is the tip of the spear of change. 

conservatives and the war on reality

       Bret Stephens, the NYT resident conservative has an article today showcasing his conversion from climate skeptic to "I believe in climate change, but not too much''.  Stephens' trip to Greenland earlier this summer allows him to pontificate on how those who write on climate change are too shrill and are turning off most people who don't want to hear of another existential threat to the human race.

     Stephens also invokes the magic of the invisible hand of capitalism as our savior, despite the fact that unfettered markets are a big part of the reason for climate change.  Granted, the affordability of solar and wind power has increased exponentially in the last 20 years, but much of that has been a result of government research and subsidies.   Stephens is mum on that aspect of the equation since it doesn't fit his narrative.  All in all, the article seems to be a justification of Stephens conversion, similar to the apostle Thomas and his famous skepticism regarding the resurrection of Christ.

What if the apocalypse happened and nobody came?

      It was over 72 degrees in northern New York yesterday.  This morning feels a little more autumnal with temps in the 40s, but it's still unseasonably mild.  The peppers and tomatoes are still ripening and it is almost Halloween!

     Meanwhile, a Brazilian climate activist writing in the NYT today is calling Sunday's elections in that country as a make or break moment in the struggle against climate change.   Bolsinaro is all in on destroying the Amazonian rain forest in the name of development, while Lula da Silva promises to protect what is left of the "lungs of the world".   It is hard to believe someone would fly in the face of all the evidence and advocate the destruction of the rainforest, but having lived through 4 years of Bolsinaro's equivalent, I guess I'm a believer.

     Based on 50 years of gardening experience in the northeast US, I can confidently state that environmental climate change is accelerating.   What are we going to do about it?

White Supremacy and the end of democracy

      It won't be the end of democracy in this country, but the results of the mid-term elections will go a long way towards setting back the rule of law in America.   The end of reconstruction in the South in the 1870's led to the passing of anti-democratic laws and the Jim Crow regime which established white supremacy in much of the country for nearly a hundred years.

      The same appeals to white supremacy are being heard today.   the election of a black president and the erosion of white majorities in many states have spooked many into endorsing candidates who explicitly promise to reverse gains made by people of color throughout the nation.   Proto fascists are coming out of the woodwork and are being supported by those who feel their way of life is being threatened.  In the short term, we will see more states like Wisconsin where the state legislature has gerrymandered a Republican minority into perpetual control.  It may take a major crisis to reverse these anti-democratic regimes, but I doubt it will be a hundred year interregnum.   Meanwhile, we need to vote like our democracy depends on it.

The price of gas and democracy

        It looks like the price of gas is the single most important factor in the coming midterm elections.   Despite all the talk of abortion rights, threats to democracy and Republicans avowed promises to try to cut Social Security and medicare the price of a gallon of gasoline will decide who controls congress for the next two years.

     How has it come to this?  I would hazard a guess and say most people pump their own gas and while it is not the biggest item in their household budget it is the most noticeable on a daily basis.  The media is good at finding the hardworking stiff who commutes several hundred miles per week with a gas guzzler which costs hundreds of dollars to keep running.  These are the kinds of stories that make headlines.  Meanwhile, the first instinct of the politically ignorant average voter is to throw out the party presiding over the price increase.

The unbearable whiteness of Republicans

      The NYT is running a well researched piece about the confluence of whiteness and election denying among Republicans.   As one source quoted in the story says, white males dominate the party and virtually to a man they eat up any story suggesting the 2020 election was stolen.  Many fear black and brown immigrants will "replace" them.  The congressional districts won by deniers are among the poorest and least educated in the country.

      The Divine Mrs. M and I recently returned from a trip to France and a river cruise on the Rhone river in the southern part of the country.   The evidence on a lively immigrant population in that country also drives whites into the arms of far right parties.   It would seem the US does not have a monopoly on bigotry and intolerance.  For the most part we avoided political conversations with out fellow cruisers who were exclusively white and well into retirement.  However, we did talk to a middle aged couple from Colorado who immediately brought up several Fox news tropes about ballots stuffed into suitcases, etc.  They reacted with pity to our argument that election fraud is not widespread.  We wound up talking past one another.

     History tells us democracy is a fragile commodity and its constituents are likely to weaken or overthrow it if their economic and or cultural views are challenged.  Our country is no exception and the threat to our freedoms has seldom been greater.  The verdict of the upcoming elections will tell us how far we have slid in the direction of autocracy.

The Economic hurricane brewing at the Fed

     In today's NYT, Paul Krugman compares the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian to the potential damage the Federal Reserve can do by continuing its policy of raising interest rates to combat inflation.  Krugman points out the Fed's tightening of the screws on the economy will not produce notable effects for some time.  Continuing to choke off growth by further increasing rates threatens dire consequences.  He likens that to officials waiting to see which path Ian was taking before issuing evacuation orders.  By the time they did, it was too late for many people.

     In our interdependent economic world, the consequences of the keepers of the world's largest economy actions are felt all around the globe.  Those actions, like climate change charged monsters such as Ian have the potential to hurt more people than ever before.  The Fed does not act in a vacuum and are the cause in many cases of suffering around the world.  Power and responsibility go hand in hand.  It's time to pause the rate increases and wait for their effects to be felt. 

Garden update

     Lots of cool dry weather and a couple of minor frosts has slowed the gardening season to a crawl.  Tomatoes and peppers continue to ripen and the chinese broccoli is still producing.   Beets and carrots are growing slowly and the last planting of turnips may or may not make it to harvest.   It has been a season for experimentation and new growing techniques.  Overall, I am pleased with the results and look forward to the 2023 gardening  year. 

The new record holder

       Aaron Judge broke Roger Maris' record for most home runs in an American League season last night in game 161.   A self effacing mountain of a man, Judge is perhaps the best possible poster child for America's pastime.   He played the season without a long term contract and will be a free agent at the end of the season.   

     Of course, the Major league record is 73 home runs, set by Bobby Bonds in 2001 at the height of the steroid era.  His, Mark McGwire's and Sammy Sosa's marks are all tainted by steroid usage.  MLB cannot disavow the records, but I think most people know these chemically assisted records are illegitimate.  Judge has shown grace under pressure and is restoring the luster of the home run as the single most important offensive force in baseball.  Congratulations Aaron!

Why we can't quit the former guy

       Watching the travails of the former guy, aka, tRump is like rubbernecking in a traffic jam.  You are causing the problem, but you can't look away for fear you may miss seeing bodies strewn across the road.

      As tRump's legal problems mount, most of us just want the circus to be over.  We just want to see Cheeto Jesus in an orange jumpsuit with a mug shot.  But delay after delay keeps happening as his various legal teams throw sand into the gears of justice.  If he can keep out of the courtroom until he gets the Republican nomination for president he will basically be home free assuming he wins in 2024 or cheats his way into the White House.  

      tRump has zero respect for the democratic process and would throw the American experiment under the bus in a heartbeat.  That is why we can't quit the circus which continues to attend his every comment.

Ian

       The true cost of Ian is slowly being appreciated by the media.   Now they are up to "10s of billions" in estimates.   Meanwhile the average homeowner in the affected areas all across Florida are dealing with the aftermath and will continue to do so for years to come.  One tiny anecdote:  My brother and sister-in-law own a home in one of the affected areas.  It is a seasonal residence which they inhabit for several months during the winter as a getaway from upstate New York.  Friends reported water had made its way into the house, so now they are headed to Florida to fix the damage.  They have no idea if there will be power and water at their place and there will be fierce competition for supplies if any stores are open.  Multiply this story by thousands and you will get an idea of problems Florida residents and out of state homeowners face.

     I think the final costs of Ian will be in the hundreds of billions as cleanup and rebuilding progress.  Good luck finding an insurance company willing to gamble on climate change in Florida.  Increasingly, the US government will be sought out as the insurer of last resort.  Time to acknowledge the foolishness of beachside homes and businesses in the state.   

Football and me

       The Miami Dolphins quarterback lay on his back for 10 minutes last night after his head slammed against the turf for the second time in 4 days.  He now faces long term damage to his brain.  Are we, as fans at least partially responsible for Tua Tagovailoa's injuries.

      

Real time disaster porn

      Watching numerous reporters standing, kneeling, being blown backwards and otherwise making fools of themselves with Hurricane Ian in the background struck me as a wierd kind of disaster porn.   Similarly, today, the same reporters will show piles of rubble and speculate on the cleanup, interviewing dazed survivors and intoning about how it all could have been much worse.

     There will be much speculation about climate change as the tens of billions of dollars it will take to rebuild becomes apparent.   The usual suspects will intone that weather is weather and we can't attribute any one storm to climate change.  Rinse and repeat.

Another one bites the dust

         The home of modern day facism, Italy, voted an acolyte of Benito Mussolini into power on Monday in a stunning rebuke of democracy.  Georgia Meloni, whose Brotherhood of Italy will be the major party in a coalition government, has made complimentary remarks regarding Mussolini, calling him a good politician who worked for Italy.

       It remains to be seen if Meloni tries to emulate the path taken by Viktor Orban in Hungary and saves the forms of democracy while killing its substance.   Mussolini's brand of facism was an authoritarian dictatorship complete with secret police and control of the media.  As most of us know, this did not end well, but it took a world war to turn Italians away from Il Duce.  And by the way, the trains did not run on time.

Immigration and the American experience

        Please, stop all the insistence that we are a nation of immigrants.   Since the first colonists arrived in the 1600s, Americans have been trying to limit the influx of the poor, huddled masses.  The original Anglo-Saxon colonists hated German immigrants.  Upon assimilation, the Germans in turn despised the Irish, who looked down on the Italians.  Don't even get me started on the discrimination faced by Chinese and Japanese immigrants.  Many of my contemporaries, whose grandparents were allowed through the golden door because of a need for cheap labor now want to build a wall to keep out brown and black people.

     There is no easy fix to the problems we face coming up with an equitable immigration policy.  Even the most pro immigration  people admit we can't absorb the millions of people who wish to come here.  On the other hand we can't build a wall and declare we are now Fortress America.   There is a middle way, allowing those who are being persecuted to seek asylum in our country in a legitimate manner.  It will take a miracle, but it is a possibility if we heed the angels of our better nature.

Warts and all

       The Divine Mrs. M and I spent 6 days in our nation's capital and it renewed our faith in America and its place in the world.  Yes, we toured some of the monuments and were duly impressed by the Lincoln Memorial and especially the Viet Nam veterans' monument.   But it was the museums we toured which made the biggest impact.

      The museum commemorating the American Indian experience was a moving tribute to the original citizens of our country.   The whole purpose was a celebration of indian culture and its contribution to America.  The creators of the exhibits could easily have devolved into a protest against the brutality of white America and the genocide perpetrated on native tribes.  Dog knows they had every right.  

     The African American Museum was less sparing of our feelings and had perhaps the greatest impact of any we experienced in D.C.   Starting 3 levels beneath the street we were informed of the cultures of Africa and the brutality of the enslavement millions experienced.  I guarantee many feelings would be hurt and eyes opened by the various exhibits.  It would take days to due this one museum justice.

      Despite the dark history of genocide and slavery there is much to celebrate in the history of our country.   We came away from our trip with a greater understanding of the opposing forces which have shaped the USA.  We are far from perfect, but nowhere else on the planet is there a brighter light shining into the darkness.

Data and your lying eyes

       It is amazing how people can torment innocent data so it aligns with their expectations.   The latest economic predictions are a case in point.  One measure, inflation expectations over the short term, shows producers are banking on lower inflation.  Meanwhile, another index, showing inflation somewhat stubbornly not falling because of high food prices, has many people spooked and calling for harsh measures.

     The right wants to put the brakes on the economy and use the subsequent pain for political gain.  The left would like to ignore inflation in favor of the vast numbers of poor and middle class who potentially benefit as their debt becomes less burdensome when paid for by cheap dollars.  Both are right and wrong.  The Federal Reserve is committed to disinflation, but also seems to be sending signals it  may tolerate more inflation in the short run if it allows a "soft landing" for the economy.   Who do you trust, the data or your lying eyes.

Ecreting on Ken Starr's grave

     I'm fairly sure somewhere on the planet there is someone mourning the passing of Ken Starr.  But not 100% certain.   The man was a boil on the ass of our democracy and one of the meanest hypocrites of the late 20th century.  

    Starting with the Whitewater investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Starr fastened himself to the Clintons like a barnacle and continued to torment facts and evidence up to and through the Monica Lewinsky scandal.  Starr never met a Democrat he didn't consider prosecuting or a Republican he would exonerate.  As President of Baylor University he helped cover up the football team's involvement with serial rape in the interest of a winning record.

    His final assault on the halls of justice was his addition to the team defending tRump in his various sexual scandals as well as the second impeachment of the former guy.   I don't usually wish ill of the dead, but in this case I will make an exception and hope he enjoys eternity in hell.

Here we go again

       With a backdrop of Ukraine pushing Russian invaders back towards the border, the DOJ issued 40 subpoenas to many tRump campaign staffers.  There is no reason for these people not to cooperate by telling what they know about the failed former president's state of mind leading up to the January 6 insurrection.   This revival  of  Merrick Garland's DOJ is bad news for tRump.  

      I wish I could get a penny for every dollar Cheeto Jesus is spending on attorney's fees.  Oh, wait!  He probably won't pay most of them anyway.  We seem to be reaching a tipping point where the  increasing  numbers of investigations will overwhelm tRump and his minions.  One can only hope.

Infrastructure years

      in his column in the NYT this morning, Ezra Klein argues the infrastructure we need to build to decarbonize our energy needs is being stymied by the multiplicity of agencies, federal, state and local which have input into key decisions about our national electricity grid.

     While not an insuperable task, Klein says it is underestimated by those who support and oppose the move away from fossil fuels.  It has been estimated that renewables capable of supplying the 3-400% increase in electricity needed to offset its use to replace fossil fuels used in heating and transportation would require the landmass of several large states.   I can already hear the arguments against these projects by NIMBYs around the nation.  The same with the transmission lines needed to carry the power from where it is generated to where it is needed.  It dwarfs the scale of the interstate highway system.

    Klein remains optimistic the projects necessary for energy evolution can be carried out in the time frame dictated for the avoidance of the worst of climate change.  I am more sanguine about the possibility.

Her Majesty was a pretty nice girl

      The Queen is dead.  Long live the King.  I have a feeling Americans are taking the death of Queen Elizabeth more seriously than most of her own subjects.   We seem to take the royals as if they are much more than a multi million pound drain on the British treasury and perennial fodder for the gossip rags around the english speaking world.  

     The Queen was consistent throughout her 70 year reign.   She rarely if ever expressed an opinion and put up with fools and charlatans without complaint.  25,000 days of pomp and circumstance and she never flagged while dealing with family dramas in the glare of the public spotlight.

     She was a pretty nice girl, but she didn't have much to say.   RIP, but let's move on.

when they come for you

      I was never a big fan of CNN.  From its inception as the brainchild of Ted Turner it seemed the network could never decide whether it stood for anything besides ratings.  This policy reached its apex in 2016 when CNN was all Trump, all the time.  Jeff Zucker saw tRump as ratings gold and covered virtually every utterance from Cheeto Jesus as if it was the sermon on the mount.

     Gradually, as the failed former president's anti democratic agenda became apparent, many of the network's anchors and reporters began reporting the truth.  As far as I was concerned it was too little and too late.   Many felt the same way and the ratings declined vis a vis Fox News and MSNBC who remained consistent in their coverage of the right's anti  democratic tendencies; Fox cheerleading and MSNBC reporting the right's agenda with increasing hysteria.

      CNN's leaders have chosen a doomed path.  You cannot defend journalistic integrity while at the same time pandering to the right wing and its propaganda outlet.  When the brown shirts come for CNN, who will defend the network?   

We were warned

      In an egregiously worded decision, a tRump appointed judge approved the twice impeached failed ex-president's request for a "special master" to review the document taken from Mar a Lago by the FBI.  The judge, whose main qualification for the job would seem to be obeisance to Cheeto Jesus is allowing justice to be delayed once again.   I'm betting tRump gets himself another 6 months of delay.  Hopefully the DOJ will appeal the ruling.  However, the court which will decide any appeal has a majority of tRump appointed judges.

    Mitch McConnell, the gravedigger of democracy, spent his entire time as majority leader confirming as many judges with partisan leanings as possible.   This spree is now bearing fruit for Republicans and tRump in particular.  There is virtually no respect for the rule of law by today's Republican party.  WTF!!

Labor Day and it significance

       Labor Day is the sanitized version of May Day, the international celebration of working citizens.  Most of us will spend the day mostly celebrating the end of summer and the impending opening of schools.  Unionization is at a low ebb in the US.  Unions are a driving force for reducing inequality.  Most union members represent low skilled occupations and the recent union elections at Starbucks and Amazon represent the new frontier of union organization.

      The labor movement is at least getting vocal support from the Biden administration.  The president has said it is up to workers to unionize with minimal interference from employers.  Unfortunately, a change to Republican rule in 2024 would reverse most gains by the movement.  Paradoxically, Republican hostility to immigration reform may  well give Labor a shot in the arm as few immigrants will mean more competition for workers' services.  

     The significance of labor is at a crossroad.   For every glimmer of increased organization, there is pushback from employers.  A new generation of leaders is coming into power and their imprint will determine the direction of the movement.  Let's hope it is a positive note as we celebrate the day.

Brandon strikes

      The president spoke to his fellow countrymen last night.  It was a good, forthright speech.  He explicitly called out tRump and the so called "MAGA Republicans" who blindly follow their dear leader.  This was a particularly smart move on his part.  Somewhere around 30% of the American population would not vote for Biden or the generic Democrat even if the alternative was a Klansman.

     Laying out the parameters of democracy and its dark side, Biden said he would fight for the former with every fiber of his being.  Pretty words, but aside from cheerleading Dems' efforts to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill this administration has done little to fight voter suppression.  I appreciate the rhetoric, but Biden can and must do more by executive orders to fight the states who are making it hard for citizens to vote.

    By calling out tRump and the semifascist GOP, Biden has staked out a position embracing the rule of law.  He let us know what the Democrats have done for the country since 2020.  These messages will form a template candidates can use in the upcoming election.  Individual Dems in red or purple districts may not want to campaign with Biden, but his message will resonate throughout the country.

We won't have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore

      Hopefully we have heard the last of Sarah Palin.   Bursting onto the scene in 2007 as part of John McCain's campaign against Barack Obama, Palin was tRump before most Americans had ever heard of the future president.   Proud of her ignorance of history as well as current events, her middle age sex appeal was evidently the only thing she was able to convey.   Most pundits have concluded her nomination as McCain's running mate was the death knell of his campaign.

      After flaming out in 2008, Palin made the rounds of celebrity TV, eventually resigning as Alaska's governor to host her own short lived reality show.   Finally she sank into blessed obscurity only to decide to run for Don Young's seat after he died.   A victim of her high negatives in Alaska, she lost under the new ranked choice voting system when the third candidates vote was redistributed between Palin and the democratic candidate.  Obviously many voters decided they preferred Mary Peltola to Palin as their second choice to Nick Begich.

     Hopefully we have heard the last of Palin, but after a lifetime of underestimating the stupidity of the average American voter I won't write her off just yet.   She still has a chance in November to make us weep once more.

    

Who are we kidding

       The government sent a 40 page statement to a tRump appointed judge telling her why a "special master" is not needed to review the documents the government seized at Mar a Lago.  Inside the statement the DOJ says its investigation is ongoing and the special master could possibly compromise the government's case.

      As many have pointed out, if anyone other than the failed former guy stole and retained classified documents they would likely be led away in handcuffs.   Enough already.  Lock him up!

The river called denial

        In a recent poll, only 3% of respondent asserted climate change was the number one issue facing America today.  Meanwhile, 10 of the 15 fastest growing counties in the country are located in the Southwest which is suffering the effects of a 1000 year drought.  The other  5 counties are located in the Southeast and Northwest.  The counties losing population are in the Midwest and Northeast, both areas suffering the least from climate change.

     Most people know in their hearts there is a problem.  But with one of the two political parties denying any connection between weather disasters and climate change, confusion reigns.  Outside of authoritarian regimes, there is no political party like the GOP and its attitude toward climate.  Unless and until Republicans have a change of heart, people will continue to move to vulnerable areas and we will be heading for disaster.

The fall garden

      Still transplanting fall lettuce and greens like chinese cabbage and broccoli.   I finished harvesting a 20 foot row of potatoes.  H/t to Ralph Childs for the seed.  It was a bumper crop of beautiful spuds.  Planted spinach to follow.   It is late for spinach at this point, but a warmer than normal fall is predicted, so we will see.   The summer squash is about to succumb to downy mildew, but the plants produced like champions all summer.  Cucumbers, ditto.

      I'm still getting used to a constrained garden situation with shade a major problem.   The garden beds produced really well with 6 hours of direct sunshine per day.   Having gardened with full sun for many years, I was surprised many vegetables performed so well.  I guess it's never too late for old dogs to learn a few new tricks!

Laboratories indeed

       California has said it will ban the sale of gas powered vehicles starting in 2035!   With a car market as large as that of many European countries, this is a BFD.   Also, 16 states usually follow California's lead, putting pressure on carmakers to ramp up their EV programs.  If I am still driving in 2035, it will definitely be electric.

      Of course the most conservative Supreme Court in a century will probably find some way to block California's initiative, but the idea of an EV future is a genie which will not go back into the bottle without a fight.  The Court threw incentives to the states when it came to abortion law and will reap the whirlwind from the Dobbs decision.   Let's see if they can step on their collective robe when it comes to saving the planet.

The college myth

        Joe Biden stepped firmly on the new third rail of American politics yesterday.  He unveiled a plan to help former college students struggling with up to 1.5 trillion in student debt.  Virtually all will get $10 thousand in forgiveness.   Students who took advantage of Pell grants will receive an additional 10 thousand in relief.

      Many of my fellow baby boomers are against giving any forgiveness to student debt.  We paid our own way and paid off any loans goes the argument.  Unfortunately, this attitude flies in the face of real world experiences of my generation.   

     When i graduated high school in 1969, tuition, room and board and books at a New York state public university ran about $2500.00 per year.   I had a regents scholarship and some savings and was able to graduate in 1973 with about $1500. in debt at 4% interest.   All told, in today's dollars it cost me about 50 thousand to graduate.  That's about the equivalent of one year of expenses today.   Much of the difference is the bloated administrations in today's universities and colleges.   We need to reform higher education to reflect our priorities.

Democracy for thee but not for me

       The sacrificial lamb was selected in NY 21cte last night.  Matt Castelli earned the dubious honor of running  against Elise Stefanik to represent the district in the next Congress.  Castelli is a former CIA agent who is betting a moderate democrat can defeat the MAGA candidate in a district which continues to trend bright red.   Outside of Democratic enclaves surrounding universities and hospitals in the district we might as well be in the backwoods of Tennessee or Alabama as far as voting proclivities.   Guns are the major issue in this area and even "moderate" Republicans are worried the government is coming for their AR-15s. 

At one time a Democrat actually broke through and won this district for the first time since the Civil War.  Bill Owens, a Clinton Democrat with strong ties to the business community sneaked through when Republicans split their vote between two candidates.  Unless Castelli has some secret plan or Stefanik is embroiled in a shocking scandal, the latter is basically a shoe in.  I can almost sympathize with downstate Republicans in Blue districts who probably feel the way I do.   Democracy for thee, but not for me.

Stupidity hurting once again

       The old axiom regarding stupidity is keep your mouth shut or open it and remove all doubt.  Ron Johnson has chosen the latter, although there was never any doubt.   When asked by a reporter if he had intended to deliver a competing slate of Wisconsin electors to VP Mike Pence on January 6, Johnson said he only intended to do it for a matter of seconds, therefore there was no attempt to interfere with the orderly transition of government to Joe Biden.

     I guess in Johnson's mind there must be a time limit on treason and 2 seconds doesn't cut it.

Holding our collective breath

     It is the silly season of national politics.   As the final primaries decide who will be running for Congress, pundits and ordinary people pick through the entrails of each contest, trying to divine some significance, no matter how small.  

     Meanwhile, every move the former guy makes is dissected for clues as to which criminal or civil investigation will bring him down.   Many people have avoided the news due to tRump overload.  The Ukraine war continues.   Blah, blah, blah.

Life under the GOP

        Sometime in the not too distant future, Republicans will hit the trifecta of American governance.  They will control the House, Senate and White House.  People like Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House and, Dog forbid, Ron Johnson in the Senate will have real power to affect the lives of everyday Americans.button Culture War issues such as a nationwide ban on abortions, doing away with gay marriage and making sure trans people are not allowed to play any kind of sport are issues they can and will take action on.   Do you really think Social Security and Medicare are sacrosanct?   Already, some are calling for both programs to be approved by Congress on a yearly basis.  That involves the ability to amend the laws.   Think about that.

    Of course, zero taxes for "job creators" is high on the agenda.  Politization of justice and further emasculation of the Voting Rights Act are other targets.   If you think none of this is possible and cooler heads will prevail, you have not been paying attention to politics for the last 20 years.  These atrocities are not only possible, but are being planned as i write this.   

Climate change getting personal

       The Divine Mrs. M and I will seemingly confront climate change in a very personal way come October.   We are scheduled to cruise the Rhone River in France.  But unless that country experiences a very wet September, parts of the river may not be deep enough to float our boat, leading to a truncated itinerary.   

     Not only are the rivers in France at a low ebb after an extremely dry winter and spring, they are also used to cool the nuclear reactors which supply much of the nation's electricity.  Until recently, many of the reactors discharged the warmed water back into the rivers, but without a waiver the reactors' management will be unable to pour extremely hot water back into already warmed waters.  With Russia withholding natural gas supplies due to fallout from the Ukraine war, much of Europe is in an energy squeeze.  

     We may be riding buses instead of cruising and may be grateful there is an alternative available to us.  Tourism may become another casualty of climate change.

Of all people

      In 2013, Liz Cheney excoriated then president Obama for the sin of expanding the reach of healthcare to many middle class Americans.   Since her election to Congress in 2016, she voted with the former guy 93% of the time.  Yet here she stands, bloodied but unbowed after losing her primary election by more than 30 points to a former never Trumper who drank the Kool-Aid  and embraced the big lie.

     What does it say about politics in 2022 that Cheney is now the darling of many on the left?   I would hazard a guess it says a lot more about the state of the Republican party than anything else.   Liz hasn't changed, but the party of Lincoln has morphed into the party of Victor Orban, leaving Cheney's political identity  far to the left of many of her Congressional colleagues.

     She is now free from the strictures of Congress and will have the backing of those who believe the Republican party of conservative ideas as opposed to its present status as a cult worshipping a failed former president.   She will be a formidable thorn in tRump's side, especially if she runs for president in 2024.   While I could never agree with most of her policies, I can respect her for her dedication to democracy.  

Climate is the new pawn in the Culture War

       Paul Krugman says it in the NYT this morning.  While Republicans at one time used to vote for climate policy legislation dealing with issues like acid rain, they now automatically oppose anything that has to do with climate mitigation.   A case in point is the Inflation Reduction act which just passed without a single Republican vote.   Even major oil companies like BP and Shell approved the legislation which is mostly dealing with climate.

      Krugman traces the GOP addition of environmental issues to the overall Culture War as far back as the 1990's and Newt Gingrich, but he believes it became more explicit after the election of Barack Obama in 2008.  The 20-30% of white Americans who are thoroughgoing racists are ready to oppose anything associated with our first black president.  The craven leaders of the party cater to this minority because they turn out to vote in the primaries.   Don't expect the GOP to turn green anytime soon.

The end is near

       After thenasty heat earlier this month, we have settled into typical late August weather in the north country; warm sunny days and cool, pleasant nights.   Most people love this weather, but gardeners know it is a prelude to the long cold winter coming.  It is too late to plant warm weather, long day loving plants.  When the zucchini and cucumbers give up the ghost there will be no replacements.

     But all is not lost!   The cooler weather plants like kale and spinach are ready to replace summer fare.  The tomatoes and peppers  are producing and will continue to do so until frost which should come sometime in early to mid October.  I'm still making succession planting of lettuce and chinese broccoli and bok choi.  But as the doomsayers lament, "the end is near", or at least nearer than I would like.

Donnie Two Scoops and the law

        Yesterday, Merrick Garland called tRump's bluff and ordered the release of the search warrant used to remove classified documents from the failed former president's residence in Florida.   From what I understand this morning, Donnie Two Scoops' legal team will demand the release of some sort of fantasy documents while at the same time opposing the release of the warrant and the inventory of documents taken by the FBI.   Hopefully the media will blow up this latest attempt to spin the news.

      According to some sources, the classified documents involved were top secret and related to nuclear defense.   If the Espionage Act was involved, tRump could be in a world of hurt.   It would prove ironic indeed if the first domino to fall involved mishandling of classified documents, the same issue he bludgeoned Hilary Clinton with in the 2016 election.   Of course, a few pundits on the left have even insinuated the secrets may very well have been shopped in the nuclear black market.   Personally, I find that hard to believe even if I am more than willing to believe the worst when it comes to tRump.  Time will tell.

Shoes continue to drop

       Even Melania's wardrobe doesn't include as many shoes as are dropping in the Donald's multiplicity of civil and criminal investigations.   From suborning state officials in Georgia to sexual assault allegations to civil lawsuits against him and his company in New York, tRump is exposed as few people in this country outside of Mafia Dons have ever been.   In a land of grievance, the man is the undisputed King.

     The various legal troubles continue to swirl, but at some point later this year or next, court dates and trials will begin.  The millions who belong to the cult of tRump will be treated to eye popping revelations and legal evidence showing their Dear Leader at the center of perhaps the most lawless administrations in American history.  Will it convince them?   Certainly a few at the margin will stop drinking the Kool-Aid, but millions more will be convinced he is getting a bum rap.  Many, if not most of these people are part of the tiny minority of "deplorables" who most of us would cross the street to avoid, but if even 10% of the population is immune to fact based narratives, the potential for violence on a large scale is a possibility.  We are entering a dangerous time for those of us who believe in democracy.

But his documents

      One of his signature issues in the 2016 presidential elections was tRump's obsession with Hilary Clinton's private e-mail server.   Though a thorough investigation proved no classified information was mishandled by Clinton the media kept up a steady drumbeat echoing tRump's supposed concerns.  Now the shoe is on the other foot and it seems it pinches.

      The DOJ had to convince a federal judge there was probable cause to think evidence of crimes was in place at the failed former president's residence, Mar a lago.   Considering the political blowback such an action was sure to engender, I'm sure Merrick Garland must have iron-clad evidence to take the step of searching tRump's castle.   Republicans are up in arms about the action, but as several pundits said, the DOJ has information the GOP doesn't.  Once again, the Republican dog is chasing the car.  Let's hope they catch it again!

Progress

      Despite carve outs favoring the wealthy by Kirsten Sinema (D- Hedge Fund) and fossil fuel interests for Joe Manchin (D Exxon), regular Democrats in the Senate were able to pass  the Inflation Reduction Act on a strict party line vote.  The 50-50 tie was broken by VP Kamala Harris in her role as presiding officer of the Senate.

     This successor to Build Back Better does not have nearly the heft of the latter, but it is still an achievement the party can run on in the November midterms.  Nearly 370 billion dollars for climate mitigation and research to combat climate change is nothing to sneeze at.  Steps to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices is another bright spot as is a minimum tax on corporate earnings are also welcome.  More important is the proof that compromise, even if it is only with members of your own party can lead to good governance.   The GOP continues to blindly oppose anything the Democrats do.  Unfortunately, they don't offer another alternative aside from slashing taxes on the rich and doing the bidding of their corporate overlords.

     With falling inflation, Republicans are losing the one issue they hoped to ride to victory in November.  Let's hope the Democrats use their exercise in good governance shows the average swing voter there is only one party interested in working in her best interest.

Snorting the Kool-Aid

     Senator Ron Johnson, reputedly the dumbest member of the world's worst debating society, decided to say the quiet part out loud.   He casually proposed Social Security, Medicare and Veterans' benefits be approved by Congress on an annual basis instead of their present status of paid for entitlements.  Coming from Johnson, many commenters laughed the proposal off as they would if another brain dead Republican,(Tommy Tuberville, can you hear me), touted this as a realistic policy alternative.

     However, if you look at the GOP and its battle against so called "entitlements" for the last 100 years, this is just the first salvo in a new attack.   As the recent vote in Kansas shows, Republicans badly overplayed their hand in the recent Supreme court decision gutting Roe vs. Wade.  There is very little public support for destroying SS and Medicare, but making it part of the larger culture wars, Johnson, et.al. think they can help the 30% of the population who listen to them come to the decision they should destroy their futures in the name of denying benefits to "those people".

The crisis mentality

      The continuing weather related disasters make the daily news a horror show of devastation.  Yesterday, the governor of Kentucky wondered out loud why his state seemed to be an epicenter of disaster.   Meanwhile, western states continue to burn.  In other news, the nation continues to be split by the abortion debate, war continues to rage in Ukraine and inflation is eroding the world's ability to respond to these and other crises.

       Of course in a reflective mode, we can easily see climate change as the greatest threat to humanity, dwarfing every other concern.   Unfortunately, that is not how the human brain works.   With some justification we have dumped hundreds of billions into the Covid 19 crisis.  Now monkeypox may demand a similar expenditure.   And the world continues to flood and burn.  The same outcome can be discerned regarding the other problems listed above.

      It is the old saw of the frog in a pot of water.    Raise the temperature of the water slowly but steadily and before the amphibian knows what is happening he cooks.   The same thing is happening to humanity.  The drumbeat of disaster continues.   Temperature is rising.   Will we figure this out, or will we join the frog?

Personal and societal responsibilty

      Bemoaning the social and environmental cost of electric vehicles and the lithium which makes them possible got me thinking.   What is the average consumer to do in the face of gigatons of carbon being released into the atmosphere each year.   If every one of us was able to use bikes to go to work and adopted a vegan lifestyle involving little or no travel would it impact the trajectory of climate change?   

      The answer is it would probably make very little difference in the short run.   Compared to the number of third world consumers trying to make the jump to a first world lifestyle, our individual choice to consume less is the proverbial drop in the bucket.

      As we become disillusioned by our leaders' inability to make the massive governmental actions necessary to really address the crisis it becomes comforting for individuals to make personal choices in line with efforts to save the planet.   While it is not nothing and commendable, it is also not going to make much difference in the long run.    Pressure campaigns to force our government and multi-national corporations to do the right environmental things is a better solution.  

Lithium and the green new deal

      One of the cornerstones of the green new deal is the switch from gasoline powered autos to electric vehicles.   Perhaps the most important component of contemporary EV's is the battery which supplies the energy.   The most important part of the battery is the lithium which facilitates energy storage.

      Climate change deniers are quick to point out it takes tons of ore refined at great cost to produce each lithium car battery.  That is their excuse to continue extracting fossil fuels and burning them and the planet.   I found out that up to a third of the lithium now used in battery production comes from the Atacama plain in northern Chile.   This high and dry area in the Andes mountains has been home to an indigenous population for thousands of years.   It has been oppressed from the time of the Spanish conquest of the Incas and now it looks like it will happen again, along with the environmental degradation inherent in the mining industry.

      It looks like the first world will get its shiny new electric vehicles and once again native populations will pay the price, whether in Chile, Bolivia or the Congo.   

RIP big Guy

      As a youngster growing up in the 1960s, I idolized Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and the Celtics.   They appeared to me the epitome of America; black and white stars playing together at the highest level.  I didn't realize at the time Boston was a terribly racist city and Russell was a target for many fans of the team.   Russell passed away on Saturday and his legacy will be enthusiastically celebrated by the city and its residents.

      Russell was perhaps the first superstar in a team sport.   Yes, Jackie Robinson was the first black to break the color barrier in baseball, but he was not a game changer as a player.  Russell won 11 championships in 13 years as a player and coach of the Celtics.  He also pushed the envelope in the movement for civil rights, including setting up an integrated basketball camp in Mississippi.  

     Bill Russell is an icon and was an iconoclast.   I will always have fond memories of Mr. Russell and the Celtics.   Rest in peace big guy.

They really don't care

      Republicans all along the political spectrum, from tRump to Susan Collins really don't care whether their constituents live or die.   Senate Republicans proved that assertion by blocking a veterans' health care bill after they voted to approve it.   Jon Stewart's pressure campaign may be enough to push the bill over the finish line if enough voters respond to his calls to shame these senators.   Republicans have traditionally been known as the national security party, but as Stewart notes, they never met a war they didn't support or a veteran they were ready to screw over.

     Meanwhile, Susan Collins' fee-fees were hurt when Democrats unveiled the Joe Manchin Inflation Reduction and Climate Change Act.  Therefore with a few crocodile tears, she announced the same sex marriage bill she has been working on with Democrats is now a dead issue.   

     These politicians are letting us know who they are and what they stand for.  What are we going to do about it?

Doggie days

         Congress is ready to do even less than usual with the August recess coming up.   The recess is an artifact of the time before air conditioners when Washington DC lived up to its reputation as a sub-tropical swamp.   Legislators and lobbyists alike fled to their home districts, especially those with mountains to sit out the rest of the summer.' 

      With A/C, there is no excuse to avoid the climate.  Congress Critters instead plead "constituent services" as the excuse for ducking the peoples' business for at least a month.  Democrats especially are egregiously shameless as they are looking at losing their majorities in the House and possibly the Senate.  The death of serious governance is around the corner and instead of using every possible minute to pass legislation, Democrats are literally heading for the hills.  WTF!

second halves

        As we approach the first of August, the baseball and gardening seasons are both past their midway points.   In both cases, I have been pleasantly surprised.   The Yankees have the best record in baseball and look to win their division for the first time in several years.   Tweaking the lineup with a star pitcher and perhaps acquiring a better hitting outfielder than Joey Gallo would seem to be the only things necessary to ensure a trip to the World Series.

       Likewise, the garden here at Casa Monzeglio has been a pretty good work in progress.  The garlic harvest is in and despite receiving 6 hours of sun or less, I was surprised at how good it is.   I have always been advised that most vegetables require full sun from dawn to dusk.  But it seems vegetables are a lot like people.   They make the best of what they get.   The fall crops of greens and lettuces are going in over the next few weeks and the tomatoes and peppers are looking good.  My gardens won't win any prizes, but will keep me and the Divine Mrs. M busy in the kitchen this fall!

A story for our times

        The House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021 held another public hearing last night.  Despite the abundance of reporting on individual events on that day, the members of the committee are performing an immense service by making a coherent whole of the disparate parts of the story of an insurrection which had the potential to destroy the remaining elements of our democracy in the interests of keeping a hedonistic, manifestly unfit person in the presidency.

       The unspoken truth, unacknowledged even by the Committee is tRump wanted to cling to power to avoid having to pay for the many crimes he has committed throughout his ill fated career and which threaten his dotage with a variety of legal penalties.  Regardless, the narrative being supplied by Liz Cheney, et al. makes sense in that it traces the triggers for Jan. 6 to the point before the election when his own team came to grips with the data showing the failed former president losing both the popular and electoral vote to Joe Biden.

     An avalanche of new evidence and testimony will keep the committee busy at least through September with more hearings on the way.   I, for one, will tune in.

No Mea Culpa

       Today' NYT features several opinion page columnists explaining why they were wrong about something on which they pontificated.  Paul Krugman explained why he was wrong to discount inflation, Michelle Goldberg on why she should have advocated for due process instead of demanding Al Franken's resignation from the Senate at the height of the #Me Too movement and Bret Stephens in perhaps the most stupid of the mea culpas explained why (in his own mind) he should not have criticized those who supported tRump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

      Stephens would have us believe economic and political considerations were uppermost in his supporters minds.  This would fly in the face of statistics showing the median tRump voter's income put them firmly in the middle class with few of the economic worries which plagued Clinton and Biden voters.  tRump's odious personal traits should supposedly have turned off these voters who in previous elections have insisted their votes are heavily influenced by the candidates' character.

     He also makes a reference to how these voters were failed by the political elite's mismanagement of the Afghanistan War and how tRump voters families bore the brunt of the mistakes.   Again, Stephens is straining at gnats.  A tiny percentage of America's families supplied the troops used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

      What Stephens fails again at explaining is why so many people supported the failed former president's hateful rhetoric and social policies while ignoring his support of legislation which shoveled immense amounts of wealth to the 1%.    It's really simple.   Many of our fellow countrymen are ignorant racist supporters of the patriarchy.  They are a small minority of approximately 30% of the population.  tRump gave them permission to let their intolerant, hateful freak flag fly.  Sorry, Mr. Stephens, your original column got it right.  No need to apologize.

Cooking the planet

        Despite everything known about the greenhouse effect and its impact on climate, the people who elect representatives to govern themselves or suffer under unelected tyrants have something in common.  They don't want to do anything about the problem if it costs a significant monetary effort on their part.  In poll after poll, people acknowledge we are heading towards a planet which will be hostile to human habitation.   But any fix which requires more than a token sacrifice is rejected.

      In ancient Greece, the city-states which formed the world's first democracy were continually warring against one another.   When war was declared, the voters would often appoint a 'tyrant" with extraordinary powers to rule the city for the duration of the war.  I know this is entering the touchy region of theology, especially for Christians, but humanity's best chance for survival may be a global government, headed by a tyrant who can make the decisions which the people have abdicated.   Global action is surely called for at this point, but I doubt my fellow citizens of the world will act before we cross the Rubicon of climate change.