Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Friday, January 7, 2022
·
21 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter
I didn’t have this headline on my Bingo card: Peruvian statue’s giant penis thrills tourists but vandals are turned off
Good. Enough screwing around.
Unvaccinated airmen lose pay, benefits as Air National Guard yanks orders
In reading this, Boston Marathon bomber accused of failing to pay thousands to victims, I learned that
Terrorism pays.
@Scott:
Just want to say that they aren’t being punished. If they were court martialed for failure to follow a lawful order, fined, and/or sentenced to time in the hoosegow, and dishonorably discharged, THAT would be punishment. As far as I can tell these people are just being let go.
@OzarkHillbilly: Yes, they are being placed in the Individual Ready Reserve. Which is a way of saying, “go sit in the corner until we call you or until you are ready to behave”.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Tsarnaev also recently sued the federal prison system because he doesn’t like the shower facilities and because he’s not permitted to wear a baseball cap.
@Scott: Like the mental 2 yr olds they are.
I take that back, that’s unfair to 2 yr olds.
@CSK: He’s a piece of work, that one.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Indeed. Eight-year-old Martin Richard liked to wear baseball caps, too–before Tsarnaev killed him.
A defense attorney once told me that, given that prison is a very boring place, a lot of prisoners like to amuse themselves by suing. Any frivolous suit will do.
Via Kevin Drum , John Harris addresses a question I’ve been trying to formulate. People say we’re on the verge of a civil war. But over what? Last time it was about slavery. What big issue is dividing the country now? Harris thinks we’re threatening a Seinfeld civil war, a civil war about nothing. Note that we had a riot a year ago over nothing but transparent lies.
After elaborating, with data and charts of course, Drum observes,
Drum’s been making a pretty good case for months that it’s FOX “News”.
I would elaborate using the new word I learned recently, schismogenisis, “The formation of schisms or divisions.” per Wiktionary. Republicans have taken to heart the commonplace that people vote based on some tribal allegiance. They’ve created a tribe. Once gay marriage quit working they fired up the rubes over immigration. If we built the wall they’d still have vaccines, which are a miracle TFG invented, don’t work, and COVID isn’t real anyway. If COVID fades, they have CRT teed up. If we turn the schools into white supremacist indoctrination camps they’ll find something new.
Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments over vaccine mandates. Justice Sotomayor is participating remotely from her chambers, and several attorneys are doing so by phone. One, who argues against mandates, is attending remotely because they tested positive for COVID.
The irony is just too much.
Truthsocial.com, Donald Trump’s social media platform, will be released on February 21. Isn’t that about three months behind its original launch date?
@Kathy: Justice Sotomayor is a type-1 diabetic, making her high risk for severe outcomes. I’m damn glad to hear she’s participating remotely.
@gVOR08:
Michelle Goldberg explored the civil war meme this morning. The most salient commonality with past civil wars is that civil war is perpetrated by that portion of the citizenry that sees itself as losing influence. Far more likely is that the US slips into an Orban-like autocracy, though along the way we can expect increased numbers of politically inspired murders.
A few random news items:
Cyber Ninjas, the Trump-friendly “audit” outfit, has been ordered by an Arizona judge to pay $50,000 per day in fines for records violations.
Ted Cruz groveled to Tucker Carlson last night over calling Jan. 6, 2021 “a violent terrorist attack.”
Sidney Poitier just died.
R.I.P. you wonderful man.
@grumpy realist:
James Joyner has put up a post about this. Wonderful actor.
@CSK:
Cruz would neither be the first nor only masochist who gets off on public humiliation.
From NPR:
Wrong thread
@OzarkHillbilly:
For what?
@Kathy:
He seems more sadistic to me.