Springtime in northern New York

       It has been a less than optimum spring so far this year.  Today is typical for the past couple of weeks; overcast with temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s.   Radishes, arugula and spinach are up and growing in the raised beds.  lettuces, kale and Chinese broccoli are up in the cold frame, but have hardly grown over the past week.  The tomatoes have yet to sprout.  I know the averages will catch up with the garden, but it is cold comfort to the gardener in the waning days of April.  Truly the cruelest month.

Chicken littles

      When you mainline liberal cable news channels, it's easy to get caught up in the hype.   Donald tRump and his evil empire are coming for you and there is nothing you can do about it.   The plucky Democrats will be overwhelmed by the cunning Republican operatives.   Conversely, Republicans are the Keystone Kops of the 21st century and Dems will steal their lunch money every night.

       It's easy in late April to get political whiplash listening to these conflicting narratives on a daily basis.  But it's not easy to forgo the occasional frisson of pleasure as tRump's hush money trial unfolds.  Oh well, speaking of evil empires, the Yankees are in the hunt again!

About as expected

      the Supreme Court managed to live down to the worst expectations of the liberal pundit class as they heard oral arguments in the tRump presidential immunity case.   it looks like there are 5 votes to at least send the case back to the lower courts for further consideration.  This will allow the disgraced, twice impeached former president to "run out the clock" on Jack Smith's election interference trial, thereby denying voters the chance to see what a jury thinks of the charges.  My faith in the Court is shattered.

Out of the frying pan

       As readers (or is it reader) of this blog know, the Divine Mrs. M and I recently returned home from a trip to Italy.  We arrived in late March in Sicily and spent 18 days touring the island and a good part of southern Italy.  As always, we were struck by the welcome the natives rolled out for us and despite the usual tourist ripoff attempts we thoroughly enjoyed our trip.

      Our tour group was one of the first of the season and the weather was unusually warm for this time of year, yet many locals told us the heat will be literally unbearable as the traditional tourist season begins in late spring and early summer.   Temperatures in the triple digits become common and readings over 110 degrees are not unheard of.   Europe is warming faster than any place on earth and Italy's proximity to northern Africa exacerbates the problem.

      Our tour guide expects it will be too hot to conduct tours in July and August in the boot heel of Italy and Sicily in the near future.  After all, heat stroked tourists are not a good look for the country.  Climate change is real and is affecting many sectors of the Italian economy.  The booming tourist business is like the canary in the coal mine.

The authoritarian mindset

      I often wonder what causes people to gravitate to charlatans such as Donald tRump or the execrable Steve Bannon.   Their fairly transparent lies so deviate from reality in such easily proven ways that a media savvy 10 year old could debunk them in minutes.   Yet millions of adults lap up these lies and beg for more.   Boiled down to its essence, tRump and Bannon's worldview is the population is made up of two components;  them, and the vast majority people whom them view as marks or dupes.

     Why do so many attribute positive character to tRump?  Part of it is the propaganda networks such as Faux News which repeat the lies tRump and Bannon spew as if they are truth.  But, as research has borne out, many people buy into authoritarianism because it answers a powerful need they feel to be told what to do and what to believe.  Religion has answered that need for thousands of years, and would be dictators like tRump tap into that same need.   I doubt there are any "Atheists for Trump" groups out there.

    As always, facts and reality tend to wear away the veneer of "truth" tRump, Bannon and others use to hide their ambitions.  It will be interesting to see how a jury responds to fact vs. fiction in the coming weeks.

Buckle up

      The tRump election interference trial in Manhattan promises to be 6-8 week non-stop spectacle for the entire nation and a boon to the cable networks covering the show.   The twice impeached, disgraced former president's guilt or innocence is almost besides the point.   Their seems to be little argument Cheeto jesus is guilty of the paperwork violations he is accused of.  The big enchilada is proving to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt tRump authorized hush money payments to Stormy Daniels in the belief he needed to do it to improve his chances of winning the 2016 election.   Bring on the popcorn!

Nuts and bolts

      By the middle of the coming summer, most Americans will be ready to throw their televisions against the wall in protest of the tsunami of ads we will be forced to endure as the election approaches.   Barring some egregious errors by the prosecution or a hung jury, tRump will be a convicted felon in New York  by August and possibly standing before a jury in Jack Smith's insurrection case in D.C.

      There is a certain portion of the electorate who would believe tRump if he told them he was the second coming of Jesus Christ despite the evidence he is more of an AntiChrist.   They make up about 30% of Republicans and there is nothing Dems can do to change their minds.  That leaves a large number of persuadable Republicans that need to be convinced to either vote for Joe Biden or stay home on election day.   Aside from energizing their base, this is the party's number one priority.

The more things change

      After spending a wonderful two plus weeks in Italy with the Divine Mrs. M, we arrived home to discover the news was the same as when we left.  It seems Donald tRump and the war in Gaza are the only things the media deems worthy of coverage and it look like both stories will be with us through the US elections in November at least.