Giving America the Business 0
Donald Trump’s Paycheck Protection Program protects paychecks–for boat dealers.
And this surprises you how?
And Now for a Musical Interlude 0
It’s been a long time since I studied French, but methinks “Je cherche a millionaire” translates into “I’m looking for a millionaire,” not into “I feel like a million.”
Via KCEA.
Flaw and Order 0
At the Hartford Courant, Heidi Stevens points out that, for “law and order” to be a meaningful concept, the scales of justice must be balanced.
Indeed, I would argue that, in American politics, the slogan, “law and order,” is commonly employed to mean order without (equal protection under the) law.
Here’s a bit of her piece:
(snip)
A call for maintaining law and order, without the acknowledgment that neither is applied fairly and equally in this country, is little more than a call for maintaining the status quo. And the status quo has left far too many people out of America’s promise of equal protection, equal rights, equal opportunity.
I commend the entire article to your attention.
Antifa 0
Thank carefully: When persons identify anti-fascists as their enemy, what are they telling you about themselves?
Image via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.
The Crisis Actor 0
David argues that he has identified an actual “crisis actor.” And it’s not who believers in “crisis actors” would have you think it is.
“Follow the Money” 0
Hal Crowther tries to “listen outside his bubble” and understand why some of his college classmates–mostly highly-educated professionals–support Donald Trump. He offers a hypothesis that may take you aback; follow the link for his reasoning:
Contact Tracing 0
The Seattle Times’s Danny Westneat tracks the trail of a Facebook falsehood from a Washington state chiropractor in the Seattle suburbs to Donald Trump and Fox News.
Remind You of Anyone? 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Claire Jack explores five reasons why narcissists are dangerous. Here they are; follow the link for a discussion and examples of each one.
- They do not respect experts
- They act without consulting others’ opinions
- They’ll put other peoples lives in danger if it meets their needs
- They have low empathy
- They like drama
Chaos Agent, Reprise 0
David is less than sanguine.
Extra-Special Bonus QOTD 0
Harry S Truman:
Socialism is what they called public power.
Socialism is what they called social security.
Socialism is what they called farm price supports.
Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance.
Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations.
Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.
When the Republican candidate inscribes the slogan “Down With Socialism” on the banner of his “great crusade,” that is really not what he means at all.
What he really means is, “Down with Progress — down with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal,” and “down with Harry Truman’s fair Deal.” That is what he means.
Afterthought:
That was 70 years ago.
Times haven’t changed.
Lessons Learned 0
At the Bangor Daily News, University of Maine Professor Amy Fried recalls that, after the U. S. Senate acquitted Donald Trump refused to act on the impeachment of Donald Trump, Maine Senator Susan Collins opined that Trump had learned his lesson. Professor Fried agrees that he did.
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
One of the things that I have trouble wrapping my mind around when I read of conduct such as this, beyond the hatred and the bigotry, is the plain down-home rudeness of it all.
“Can That Be Called Violence?” 0
I received an email recently from a friend of mine (it was not sent solely to me; I was but one of a number of addressees).
I met him some years ago. shortly after I moved to these parts, when I worked on his sadly unsuccessful campaign for local office; we have stayed in sporadic touch since then.
My most vivid memory of him is of the time we dining with a black woman, a mutual acquaintance and political activist, who had grown up in Connecticut; we were trying to explain to her what is was like to live under Jim Crow, he from his perspective as an African American sailor stationed in these parts in those days and me as a white guy, a native Southerner, who grew up under Jim Crow and went to segregated schools.
I am sharing this with his permission. It’s a powerful letter; because of its length, I’ve placed most of it below the fold.
I Too Am Human!
America’s problem with race has deep roots, with the country’s foundation tied to the near extermination of one race of people [Native American] and the enslavement of another [African American]. Racism is truly our nation’s original sin….with many more sins as follow-up. To make it lasting, they made it systemic. Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist environment.
What I just said sounds a lot like violence to me!
What escapes many people is that the whimsical killing of enslaved Blacks in this country during slavery, and even after, by white folks, without punitive consequence, is based on laws passed by white politicians, who happened to be plantation owners as well. Can that be called violence?