First Looks category archive

Off to drink liberally.

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall.

It’s a short read, but a valuable one. It’s historical American realpolitik. I read it many years ago for one of my classes when I was training as an historian.

Learn more about George Washington Plunkitt at Wikipedia.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Mark Travers looks at the effects of false–I would use the term “toxic”–positivity. He sees three negatives; follow the link for a discussion of each one.

1. It bottles up real emotions.
2. It leads to unrealistic beliefs.
3. It gives an untrue impression.

Afterthought:

I have nothing against trying to maintain a positive attitude in times of trouble, but, when doing so reaches the point of self-delusion, it becomes destructive to oneself and others.

Robert Reich cites the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states, in part,

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

and suggests that Republicans’ efforts to force the nation to default on its debts constitutes such questioning and may well be in violation of the Constitution. Here’s a bit from his article:

. . . if House Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling, you (President Biden–ed.) are obligated by the U.S. Constitution and your oath of office to ignore the debt ceiling and continue to pay the debts of the United States.

He goes on to argue that “Constitutional originalists” would be hard-pressed to find such an action unconstitutional.

(Of course, the flaw in that argument is that “originalists” are only “originalists” when it suits their agenda, but that’s a topic for another day.)

At Above the Law, Liz Dye has the latest on the legal maneuvering.

Via Le Show.

I must say, I find this analogy to be quite en pointe.

Via Job’s Anger.

Chuck Hagel:

I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn’t take an oath of office to my party or my president.

Off to drink liberally.

Jessica Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb look at the push to return to the days of Charles Dickens in this, the New Gilded Age. A couple of excerpts from their article:

There’s a reason employer are hiring children in increasing numbers. With less information, less power and fewer options, they are easier to exploit.

(snip)

Since 2021, legislators in 10 states have introduced bills, backed by industry, that would loosen child labor laws.

Mangy comments at the Youtube page:

Do nothing, power-mad congressman, Jim Jordan of Ohio is REALLY upset that his hero and January 6th co-conspirator, Donald Trump, is in legal jeopardy in Manhattan. To deflect attention from Trump and muddy the legal waters, Jim Jordan has decided to investigate Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, claiming that crime is out of control in New York because Bragg is focused on unfairly prosecuting (and persecuting) Trump, while crime runs rampant. Sadly though, crime is down in all categories since Bragg has taken the DA’s position, and the murder rate in New York is a third of the murder rate in crime-ridden Columbus Ohio. Clearly, with all of Jim Jordan’s grandstanding in order to garner right-wing ‘clicks’ and donations, he has done a damn poor job of keeping an eye on his home state. Just as he stood by while sexual assault went on in the Ohio State wrestling program, Jim Jordan stands by while Ohioans die.

. . . and the collectible.

Roman Megastructures on Tubitv.com.

The three episodes focus on architecture in three cities in Roman Gaul that are today’s Lyon, Arles, and Paris. I gather that the series was originally in French, but dubbed into English. The dubbing in the first episode is okay; in the other two episodes, it’s quite well done.

I found the series fascinating.

Then, again, I did train as an historian, well, because I find history fascinating, for the past explains the present.

Mangy comments at the Youtuve page:

Having taught pretty much all levels of students, Mangy Fetlocks feels schools should be safe places for students to learn and grow and that a responsible, nurturing society should be willing to do all that they can to ensure that that is the case, even if it means ‘giving up’ something, like the ability to buy and own weapons of war, since in that case, nothing is actually ‘given up’, but rather, simply exchanged for something more valuable that is for the greater good. While Mangy is a lifelong gun owner, he values kids way more than he values any perceived security derived from high-powered weaponry. At the risk of offending a few snowflakes, he wrote this song anyway because this is America, and real patriots speak out if they think it will benefit us collectively.

Image via All Things Amazing, an image site (some images NSFW).