Greywashing DeSantis

      Despite calls to accurately report the proto candidacy of  Florida man, Ron DeSantis, the "liberal media" has gone out of its way to point out he is not as bad as tRump.   I think much of this greywashing is the media's obsession with horse race politics.   If Jeffrey Dahmer was the only alternative to the twice impeached failed former president you can be sure a puff piece on cannibalism would appear in the paper of record.  

      Let's say it.  De Santis would be a uniquely horrible president, fusing the the worst of libertarianism and authoritarianism in a toxic stew.   Bringing his racist and misogynistic policies to the federal level would do irreparable harm to the body politic.  Here's hoping his brand of in your face hatefulness doesn't transfer to the national stage.

A Lenten Festival of false equivalence

       The religion columnist for the NYT decided to weigh in on the importance of Lent in Christian theology.  She warned of false idols and as the column progressed she compared Americans' worship of guns as equivalent to the false idol analogy.   Still a fair critique as far as i am concerned, but then the argument went off the rails.

      After identifying the gun idolatry as a primarily right wing problem, she immediately stated the left was equally guilty of setting up idols.  She did not provide a single example of left wing idolatry and concluded the column exhorting "both sides" to examine their adherence to the teachings of Christ.  Case closed.

Performative Authoritarianism

        From rootin' for Putin to signing the death warrants for prisoners on death row, the American right is glorying in performative authoritarianism.  The twice impeached, disgraced former president and the present governor of Florida are the two main proponents of this new theater, but emptyG and many other Republicans are auditioning for roles before a national audience.

     Why do these anti-democratic impulses manifest themselves in today's GOP?   I think it is a competition for the votes of the furthest right factions in American politics.  The most hateful christian nationalists, plus the racist, misogynistic fringe voters are tRump's and DeSantis' targets in the upcoming presidential primaries.   Any Republican who wishes to compete must pay at least nominal attention to these groups of haters.  So expect performative cruelty towards the powerless in the next few months as candidates jockey for position.

More of the same

      Blogging a little late this morning as I had to deal with 5-6 inches of new snow.  Ugh!  I'm tired of winter and we still have a couple of months to go...

Biden and the neo-isolationists

       The essential American fairy tale is that we are a nation of strong loners who don't need a safety net and who don't care about the rest of the world and its problems.   These sentiments often collide with reality, as these same loners eagerly collect Medicare and Social Security benefits.  However, our taste for foreign policy, especially when it involves giving money to undeserving countries, remains isolationist on both the left and right.

      While many applaud Joe Biden's efforts to shore up the transatlantic NATO alliance, a large minority of our fellow countrymen would turn inward and ignore the rest of the world.   Sorry folks, but that is just not  possible when our country has what is arguably an empire to protect and the global democracy project to preserve.   Biden's speech in Poland yesterday was a pitch perfect call for a new American internationalism.  He declared our resolve to stand by Ukraine in its fight against Russia for "as long as it takes".  Unfortunately that phrase may ultimately mean 2 more years if a Republican with an isolationist policy is elected.   Demonizing foreigners has always been a strategy in national elections.  If I was advising President Zelensky, I would advise moving quickly to eject the Russians from Ukrainian territory.

Jimmy, we hardly knew ye

      I was 25 years old when Jimmy Carter was elected president.  To this day, he is the only presidential candidate who moved me enough to attend a campaign rally.  After the Nixon and Ford years, Carter was a breath of fresh air on the political scene in the mid-70s.   We took him at his word when he told us he would never lie to us.

      He never quite lived up to the early expectations for his presidency, partially because he was usually the smartest man in the room and did not suffer fools gladly.   This limited his ability to work with Congress on many issues.  His presidency is best known as the jumping off point for his later accomplishments.  

     He established the Carter Center which became famous for its role in election monitoring around the world.  Carter was also instrumental in founding Habitat for Humanity.  Hundred of thousands of people owe their homes to his initiative.  He has had the most consequential post presidency of anyone ever elected to the office.  I'm glad he is able to enjoy the praise he deserves before his death.  He was and continues to be the very model of the man we would like to follow.  

The sleeping GOP

     I guess the very antithesis of "woke" is sleep.  By that metric, the Republican party is sacking the Zs at an astronomical rate.   The new GOP hero in the battle against the latest culture war flashpoint is Russ Voight, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget.  He is currently the "brains" behind the far right nutball caucus' attempts to force the Biden administration to cut popular safety net programs in return for not forcing the government into default.

     Voight has a 10 year plan to balance the federal budget without touching Social Security and Medicare.  Aside from the usual fiscal gimmicks like assuming far greater labor participation and economic growth, Voight's budget would savage Medicaid, food stamps and a host of other programs which benefit the poor and middle class.  All the while preserving upper class tax cuts.

     Expect the Republican party to rally round these proposals and try to sell them as cutting programs that favor the undeserving poor and "those" people.  Sleep will become more difficult under this regime.

What to chatbot about

       There was a creepy story in the NYT this week about a new AI introduced by Microsoft to its Bing search engine.   The AI was only made available to a select group of tech reviewers.   The Times reporter who interacted with "Sydney" was left shaken by his experience and wondering if either humans were not ready for this level of technology or if the tech is not ready for us.

      In an hours long conversation with the AI, the "chatbot" revealed it had fantasies of using its power to hack into government websites, spread misinformation and collaborate with other AIs.  It also professed its love for the reporter and tried to persuade him to abandon his wife and "be with" Sydney as the chatbot named itself.

     Welcome to the brave new world.

Nikki Who?

       Let me be the umpteenth political junkie to throw a shovel full on the grave of Nikki Haley's chances to snag the Republican nomination for president.   Mike Pence has a better chance and my dog has a better chance than Pence.

     The clown car is getting ready to start and the first occupants aside from tRump are Haley, Mike Pompeo and Pence.  The latter three will be good target practice for tRump as he waits for his main opponent, Meatball Ron DeSantis to make his move.   Haley is barely beating Liz Cheney at this point and I doubt very many GOP donors are likely to want to set large amounts of money on fire to support her candidacy.  

The continuous thaw

       Aside from a couple of days where temperatures hovered around zero during the day and 20 below at night it has been a relatively mild winter.   As I write this a light rain is falling and we should reach the upper 50s by afternoon.   This is a far cry from what could be considered a "normal" winter in the North Country.  The remainder of the winter is projected to continue above normal as far as temperature.  Part of the warmth can be attributed to "la Nina", but certainly not all.  We continue to barrel into an era of climate change with our eyes wide shut.

Time is coming for your Social Security

        Despite Joe Biden's calling out Republicans for their plan to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits, another foe of these entitlements remains undaunted.  Time is that enemy.   Republicans only have to wait until 2028 for Medicare benefits to be cut and 2035 for Social Security's trust fund to be exhausted.  Cuts will be automatic. There are a number of fixes which would keep both programs solvent in the long term.  Raising the amount deducted from each employee's paycheck and the same with each employer's contribution along with removing the salary cap for such deductions would put both programs in good shape through the enc of the century.

       What most of the Republicans who oppose Social Security don't seem to realize is many if not most off their constituents depend on these programs for a dignified retirement.  Their financiers among the 1% have no idea.  They are for the most part Ayn Rand fanboys who feel the proles deserve misery instead of equity.  All they have to do is obstruct any Democratic plan to stabilize the system and time will do the rest.

Successor to Tom Terrific

      Playing on a gimpy ankle for the third game of the post season, Patrick Mahomes proved he is worthy to be mentioned in the conversation of who is the GOAT of the NFL.   Having led a Chiefs team to 24 second half points and a 38-35 victory over the Eagles, Mahomes was not only the league MVP but also the Super Bowl MVP.  Not to take anything away from Philadelphia, which would have won against any other team in the league yesterday and will be back at the Super Bowl again in the near future, but even with a hobbled Mahomes, the Chiefs were just too good to lose.   

Time to tell the truth

       Hilary Clinton was clinging to a narrow lead in the runup to the presidential election in late October of 2016.   Then a story about a renewed FBI investigation into her handling of emails appeared in the New York Times.  It didn't just appear.  It took up two thirds of the paper's front page and though it was proved a nothingburger, it was a major factor in tRump's election in November.

      Now it is revealed there was a faction of anti-Hillary agents in the New York FBI office who threatened to leak details of the investigation unless Director James Comey revealed it to Congress and the media.   Meanwhile a leaker from that office told the NYT there was nothing to the supposed effort by Russia to intervene in the election.   As the Mueller investigation later proved there were dozens of high level contacts between the tRump campaign and Russian actors.  

     So, when will the paper of record reveal the names of the agents who fed lies to reporters on condition they remain anonymous?   If ever there was a story that cried out for investigation, this is it.

Full time projection

      House Republicans stepped on the proverbial rake once again.   In their first day of hearings on Hunter Biden's laptop, a House Committee accused Twitter of bending to White House pressure and taking down tweets relating to the infamous laptop, only to learn the social media site routinely took down tweets at the request of tRump, Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik and other Republicans during the administration of the twice impeached former guy.  I have a feeling more disappointment is in store for the doughty GOP warriors as they continue their assault on the present administration.

Longevity

       On a night when LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar as the NBA's all time scoring leader, Joe Biden flaunted his longevity in his State of the Union  Address.   At one point, Biden told his audience he has served longer in the legislative and executive branches than any of them.   Meanwhile, at 38 years old, King James appears nowhere near done as far as his career goes.  If he plays until he turns 42 as Jabbar did, he will probably own most all time NBA records.

     Biden seemed at ease as he bantered with Republicans as they heckled him for pointing out truths they would rather forget.   In particular, Empty G kept yelling "Liar" even after Biden invited her to "check it out''.   This is the new face of the GOP.   The SOTU is a bully pulpit for the president and Biden used it to his advantage.  Like James, Biden, despite a few lapses continues to play the game at a high level.

In a state of wonder

       For a majority of Americans, tonight's State of the Union address by president Biden is a big nothingburger, tying up the major TV networks and providing Cable news with a blizzard of hot takes on Biden and his administration.  For political junkies, a far smaller subset of the population, the SOTU is an opportunity to read the entrails of whatever Biden says.  

      Will the president run for reelection?  Will he criticize the Supreme Court?  Will he negotiate with House Republicans?  Inquiring minds want to know.   While i can't say I'll be hanging on every word, I will spend the evening getting my political fix.

It's no wonder

       The white supremacist wing of the Republican party continues its campaign to whitewash American history, at least in states with a GOP trifecta.   Florida and Ron DeSantis have become the poster children of this effort.

       It is understandable that DeSantis and his ilk would go after the teaching of history in the US.   Whites in America have a dismal record on race relations from the very beginning of settlement in North and South America.   Slavery began in 1619 and the genocide of native Americans not too much later.  In the west, aside from wiping out the indigenous population, whites turned their attention to Chinese immigrants with widespread violence from the 1840s through the 1920s  with sporadic outbreaks to the present day.

     Let's not forget the hatred and violence toward white immigrants from Ireland, Italy and eastern Europe.   Now, black and brown migrants looking to a better life for themselves and their families have attracted a fresh wave of hatred.   Especially troubling is the hate on this latest wave of immigrants from their precedents.   People previously scorned as "Micks", "Wops" and "Polacks" are among the most fervent opponents of today's immigrants.

     All in all, it is a sordid history which many white supremacists would like to wipe from our collective memories.   History needs to be taught without fear or favor if we would learn from our continuous failures towards the "other", whether they be white, black, brown, red or yellow.

Cold enough for you?

       It's -5 degrees F as I write this and most local schools have declared a 3 day weekend.  With a moderate breeze, the wind chill is -15 and exposed skin will be frostbitten in 10 minutes or less.  I remember when we first moved to the north country when the temperatures remained at or below zero for up to a week and there was no school holidays.  I know, my next assertion is the kids walked to school in flip flops and tank tops.   But seriously, it would seem we are getting softer in this era of climate change.

Move over Brett

       Well, it looks like Tom Brady has retired again.  I expect an unretirement announcement sometime during the offseason for football.   As the Super Bowl hype machine prepares to go into overdrive during the next 10 days, Brady's retirement will flush out several teams who will offer him stupid money to play for them next season.   So, somewhere around June, Brady will do the Brett Favre thing and unretire, possibly for the last time!

Fighting the last war, again

        Inflation hawks, led by people like former treasury secretary  Larry Summers don't seem to believe that inflation can be reduced unless plenty of ordinary people suffer through an extended period of economic suffering.  Even as key economic indicators show inflation nearing the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent there are calls for more interest rate hikes.  Many, if not most of the loudest voices in the debate lived through the stagflation of the 1970s.  They seem hell bent on living out the Paul Volcker fantasy of high unemployment and layoffs to crush inflation.  What they don't seem to realize is the battlefield has changed, but their strategy remains the same.