Political Theatre category archive
The Creeping Crawling Chaos 0
David’s caller suggests that we are living in a simulation worthy of Nyarlothotep. Like David, I don’t buy the simulation idea, but the creeping crawling chaos notion seems spot on.
Aside:
I’ve been an H. P. Lovecraft fan for decades (that’s the primary reason I linked to this). I will grant that Lovecraft’s plots can be repetitious, but I’ve read no other author as adept at creating atmosphere as he. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is my favorite Lovecraft tale, followed by At the Mountains of Madness.
The Cats of Ulthar is just a bit too realistic for my taste.
Epidemiology in Trumpled Times 0
And, in related news, predictions of possible products of the potential pandemic proceed from potential to present.
Image via Juanita Jean.
Trumpling Science, Reprise 0
Thom and his caller discuss the Trump Adminstration’s cuts to government’s ability to respond to public health crises. The relevant portion of the clip starts at about the one minute mark.
Trumpling Science 0
And, for more Trumpling of scientists. . . .
A Notion of Immigrants, Catch-22 Dept. 0
It’s the best catch there is:
And in a neat little catch-22 worthy of The Bad Place itself, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s rewrote its rules for implementation to say that applying for a green card makes immigrants more likely to depend on public benefits and should officially count against them. Thus, applying for a green card now makes you less eligible for a green card.
Catch up with the rest of the story at the link.
“Open the Hangar, Here Comes the Airplane” 0
Honest to Betsy, you can’t make this stuff up.
A Note to Purity Testers 0
Shorter PoliticalProf: Vote in the real world.
A Distinction with a Difference 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of my local rag makes a fine point:
Accusations of socialism toward the Democratic Party confuse social programs with socialism.
Follow the link for the rest of the letter; it’s the fourth one down on the page.
Originalist Sin 0
Joe Patrice explores the con that is “Constitutional Originalism.” A snippet (emphasis added):
It (originalism–ed.) has always been a lie of course, but it’s a pretty successful one.
The conservatives on the Court have all but given up the facade of Originalism, granting cert in a gay rights case signaling an intent to protect Catholic Social Services who got cut off by the Philadelphia adoption program for refusing to place children with same-sex couples. The basis for the looming decision, previewed over the last several years by Supreme Court Oracle Justice Alito, is that religious freedom requires government respect the religious freedom to violate discrimination laws. The only problem with this plan is that the conservatives have already ruled that the “Originalist” read of religious freedom is the exact opposite. Apparently there are more different “Originals” in the First Amendment than there are in Ray’s Pizza establishments.
All the News that Fits 0
Will Bunch talks about the latest (!) white supremacist terror attack, this one in Germany, and laments the failure of the press to give it the coverage it deserves. A nugget:
That’s disgraceful — and arguably racist.
(snip)
It’s hard not to believe that — with our ADD-addled ability to focus only on the latest outrage of the last hour — we are missing the most alarming and important trend of the last decade. That would be the rise of violent, brownshirt-style, right-wing global extremism and the concurrent era of authoritarian-style rulers on every continent, whose angry rhetoric toward migrants, ethnic minorities or women inspires these terrorists. The world’s indifferent response to similar trends in the 1930s led to global conflagration in the 1940s. Are we repeating those mistakes in the 2020s as we fail to connect the dots?
Methinks he is onto something. We have forgotten the lessons of World War II.
I am not sanguine.
Judging Amy 0
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has had enough of Roger Stone’s guff.
Reboot(strap) 0
Nicholas Kristoff marvels at how a metaphor for futility became a prescription for policy. Here’s a bit; the full piece is at the link.
Yet this phrase has become part of America’s mythology and the centerpiece of our approach to help those left behind: We harangue them to lift themselves up by the bootstraps.