Uniting our Nuts with a Single Language

Sometimes I wonder if the UK has more outbreaks of American-style FREEDUMB! lunacy just because they share a native language and can read what our crazies write on the internet.

Counterpoint (at least with regards to COVID lunacy): New Zealand.

Why would anyone ever work for Trump?

Doing anything on behalf of Trump is really hard because it is impossible to see the line between doing whatever Trump is tweeting about and "pedal[ing] bonkers conspiracy theories." I mean, there's gotta be a line because Powell crossed it. But why is what she said any more bonkers than most of the President's tweets is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.

How weird is the Trump Era? It's getting me to link to Powerline

Trump's legal argument that it has proof of voter fraud in Michigan because the number of votes in precincts exceeds the number of registered voters uses data from precincts in Minnesota, not Michigan.

Yes, Trump's team of election lawyers are so incompetent, they can't keep all those M-state names straight.

Why is Africa the best-performing continent in terms of COVID infection rates?

I've been really curious why, throughout the COVID pandemic, the countries Trump calls the "shithole countries" are doing so well?

It's not just that they have a warmer climate. If that's all it was, why is South America doing worse? And why was Brazil one of the worst-performing countries through most of the summer? India was also performing badly in the late-summer/early-fall despite its warm weather. But Africa as a region has had consistently lower rates that all but the best performing countries in other parts of the world. Africa has a lot of poverty, several poor performing or almost nonfunctional medical systems, and areas with high population density--all stuff that you would think would cause higher COVID growth. But those liabilities have not been reflected in their infection rates.

The Republican party does not believe in democracy

Trump personally called Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, the two Republican canvassers who initially refused to certify the results in Wayne County, Michigan, then certified the results. After the call with the President, the canvassers tried to rescind their vote, submitting an affidavit claiming that (despite the fact that the results had already been certified) the certification should be reversed.

This should be a major scandal. The President of the United States is directly interfering with the election in which he is a candidate. I hope the prosecutors in Michigan are considering whether Trump's call was a crime (it would be in many states, I'm just not sure what MI law says).

It is not a surprise that our thoroughly corrupt President who doesn't seem capable of understanding how the rule of law works would do something like this. But the fact that the Republican party isn't screaming loudly about his blatant assault on the democratic process speaks volumes. They really are the party of fascism now.

Silver lining

Probably the only silver lining to our current period of post-election turmoil is this may be our only real chance to end some of our various forever wars.

I mean, what is our objective in Afghanistan? When we first invaded that country (19 years ago!) it was to capture or kill Bin Laden and the other members of al Qaeda who were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. As a secondary matter, it was to topple the Taliban, but only because they were sheltering al Qaeda. All of those objectives have arguably been accomplished (or at least don't apply anymore). So why are we still fighting in Afghanistan?

If we can't articulate a clear reason to have a war we shouldn't have that war. I realize the foreign policy establishment is really wedded to these wars and are horrified at the prospect of an American withdrawal But they never bother to make a compelling case for a continued American war in Afghanistan.

I'm not just talking about bad stuff that will happen if the U.S. leaves. Bad stuff is also happening because the U.S. is still fighting there. Fighting a war is itself really bad stuff. Is any defender of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan acknowledging the bad stuff that comes from this continued war and making the case that it is justified? I haven't seen anyone do that in more than a decade.

Second Stamp Day--10th anniversary edition

The most mysterious of Rubber Hose holidays has come again. Huzzah!

It's time for everyone to hang their second stamp day stockings, and then stomp on them... twice.

Or something like that.

(The Original Day, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019--I guess I haven't posted about it every year)

"We"?

I like how Charles Koch says "boy did we screw up" because the tea party led to "the largest government spending in history." The tea party was supposedly a grass-roots protest movement of ordinary people outraged by the excess spending of the government, not billionaire mega-donors to conservative causes.

It's almost like the populist movement was really a bogus astroturf effort by the Koch brothers and others like him to undermine the new Obama administration.

The evergreen headline for the past few years

"As Trump Stews Over __________ He Mostly Ignores the Public Duties of the Presidency."

Seriously, they could have run that headline in any week in the past four years. Trump rarely does any of the public duties of the presidency. But he does do a lot of stewing.

Trump 2024!

Every time I read an article that notes that Trump is sure to run in 2024, I wonder if they see the same Trump I do. I'm talking about our current president, the guy who is exhibiting clear (in my opinion) signs of mental decline, appears to be in terrible health, never exercises, and who had some kind of secret health crisis a year ago that might have been a stroke. There's a pretty good chance that Trump won't be around in 2024, and if he is, he is going to be in even worse physical and mental shape to run as he is now.

Maybe "Trump 2024" could refer to one of his idiot kids, but I'm not completely convinced that the father's appeal will transfer seamlessly to them. (Not that I really understand their father's appeal)