May, 2017 archive
The American Experiment, 21st Century Version 0
Def: An effort to determine which can do more damage: a President who has no core values or a political party whose core value is that there is no such thing as the common good.
(NYT link via Political Prof after I did the original draft of this post.
Twits on Twitter, Still Rising Again after All These Years Dept. 0
“War of Northern Aggression” twits.
To the Looking Glass 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Ray Williams offers advice for the White House staff. A snippet (emphasis in the original:
- Ignore them and don’t react if they are abusive. They’ll move on to another target;
- It’s not about you when you get attacked. Their behavior is a disorder;
(snip)
Follow the link for the rest of his suggestions.
By the by, his introduction, in which he describes the characteristics of someone with NPD and cites numerous studies, will be eerily and frighteningly like someone who is frequently in the news these days.
Tale of the Tells 0
My old boss used to say, “Even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.”
Bret Stephens–yes, that Bret Stephens–says that Trump’s tells are an easy read.
With Donald Trump, the tells are always easy.
When the president says, “I’m, like, a smart person,” you know he nurses deep insecurities about his intelligence. When he says, “I’m really rich,” you know that he knows that you know that, really, he probably isn’t.
And when he writes, as he did in his letter to the now-former FBI director, James B. Comey, that “while I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation,” you know what keeps him up at night, too.
That wasn’t the only tell in Trump’s Comey canning.
Follow the link to find out what other stories the tells tell.
Bee Sting 0
It’s a honey of a tale. A nugget:
Lloyd Cunniff of Choteau reported 488 hives stolen in January, after he had transported them to California for the almond pollination season.
Meet the Voter Fraudster 0
It’s not who they said it is.
(snip)
Zority’s indictment alleges that from April to June 2016 he provided Parks with Wal-Mart gift cards and cash based on the number of Republican voters she signed up; that he failed to put his name on a duplicate registration form; and that he directed Parks not to put her name on registration copies.
The criminal complaint in Parks’ case said she was working for Engage Nevada, a conservative voter registration group, when she marked “Republican” or “nonpartisan” on forms of people who said they were Democrats or didn’t specify their party affiliation.
Republican charges of voter fraud are what is known in psychological circles as “projection.”
I’m old. I thought that nothing could surprise me, but, clearly, the Republican Party is determined to disabuse me of that notion.
Today’s Republican Party is a vile and loathsome thing.
“L’Etat, C’est Moi” 0
Josh Marshall suggests that Donald Trump is channeling Louis XIV.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
That the police are far more likely to arrest Not White than white persons on drug charges, even though the rate of drug use is pretty much the same amongst the various populations, is extensively documented.
Consequently, if you don’t realize that this is all about locking up as many Not White persons as possible, then you haven’t been paying attention.
QOTD 0
Harriet Tubman:
Aside:
qotd.org, my preferred quotations site and one to which I’ve donated, appears to be down as I write this, so I’m back to brainyquote, the site that thinks persons should be alphabetized by first names.
The “information superhighway” has become the expressway to stupid.
Quiet Zone 0
Alex and his caller discuss Republican attempts to lock up peaceful protestors on Trumped up charges.
Image via Juanita Jean.
True Confessions 0
Honest to Pete, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
The Scent of Obsession 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., tries to make sense of Donald Trump’s obsession with President Obama, whom Trump did not defeat because Obama’s term was up. Here’s a bit:
Is that the basis of this weird psychodrama? In your mind, is he Bugs Bunny to your Elmer Fudd? Moby Dick to your Ahab?
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Click for the original image.
There is one small difference between then and now: There are no Howard Bakers or Lowell Wieckers left in the Republican Party. There are only multiple Batson D. Belfrys.
“Don’t Get Sick. If You Do Get Sick, Die Quickly” 0
Robert Reich excoriates Paul Ryans “they call it a health care” bill. A snippet: