Thursday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, August 27, 2020
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60 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).
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Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Louisiana with 150mph winds
Rome is drowning while trump tweets.
Re: Hurricane Laura – Mr Trump reassigned $44 Billion from the FEMA Emergency Fund to his $300/week unemployment supplement (that no one seems to have received). That well over 50% of their budget; only some $25 Billion remains.
Great work, Commander! Germany is victorious on all fronts!
The Florida headline of the day-
Lobbyist Ron Book files suit over birdnapping: ‘I will chase you till I die’
Oops. Here’s the link- https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/state/2020/08/26/feathers-fly-when-high-profile-lobbyist-ron-book-threatens-former-pet-store-owner-over-alleged-kidna/5635608002/
The non-Hurricane Laura headline of the day-
Asbury Park ex-cops admit vandalizing cars of man who filed complaint against them
And yet they gotta try anyway. They just can’t help themselves.
Why oh why can’t they keep politics out of sport??? Just shut up and dribble!
As tho racism and racist policing are simple political disagreements.
@OzarkHillbilly: And in that spirit, also from the Guardian: MLS joins wave of protests against racial injustice with five games postponed
Kenosha. What happened there is a microcosm of what this summer of protest has been about. Police, feeling “endangered” (why are we giving badges and guns to scared little ninnies in the first place?) shot an unarmed black man 7 times in the back, firing into the same parked car carrying his young children. The city erupts into protest, and an armed gang descends upon the city. But this is a white gang, so instead of stopping them, this same police force thanks them for helping patrol the streets and throws them bottles of water from a hatch in their armored vehicle.
Violent armed white men rampaging around a city hunting down black people with the encouragement of the police? For all practical purposes, “Militia” = “Klan”.
Among the thugs thanked by the police? A 17 year old gang member with an assault weapon. Later that night he fired into a crowd of peaceful protestors, killing two and seriously injured another. This white thug then walked past a line of police officers with his assault weapon slung over his shoulder, while people screamed that he had shot someone. The officers waved him on and then charged in to get those who had dared to accuse a white man of murder.
And what did the Kenosha Police Chief have to say about it?
Interesting that the Guardian didn’t report this. OK, not really, just misogyny.
@MarkedMan: As others have pointed out, the shooter was also out after curfew.
Henry Johnson, the One-Man Army Who Fought Off Dozens of German Soldiers During World War I
I think I have heard of him before but if I did, I had long ago forgotten the details.
Those who like government least govern worst
Julian Sanchez:
Men going their own way: the rise of a toxic male separatist movement
Good luck with that guys.
@OzarkHillbilly:
“While incels plot violent revenge on women, and pickup artists (PUAs) deploy predatory tactics to “game” women into having sex with them, the men of the MGTOW attempt to eschew relationships with women altogether. They are, literally, going their own way. Far, far away from any women. At all.
Good luck with that guys.”
Meh, their loss. They seem less harmful than incels or pickup artists.
@Moosebreath: Agreed. Basically modern monks, without the reflection time I guess.
@Teve:
Do you have a link for that?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Do they meet at a bathhouse?
@Moosebreath: Towards the same quiet but inevitable end as the Shakers.
@Sleeping Dog: Heh, I had the same question.
@charon:
linky
I never thought I’d see the term Nuclear Diamond Battery in my life. It sounds more like a name for a rock band, too.
My first thought was to use them to power an ion drive for an interstellar probe. No way to carry enough inert noble gas for continuous thrust, but enough for a few hundred years’ worth? Sure. And also enough for a few hundred years’ worth for slowing down at the destination star.
Oh, and it’s a power source, not a battery. Batteries are power storage. The difference is the diamond “battery” produces power whether you’re using it or not.
I could use that in a science fiction story, too. Like superconducting ceramics (remember them? I’m still waiting for the superconducting power grid).
Not much in the way of news here, but…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1
Again, nothing we haven’t strongly suspected.
As Jen and Sleeping Dog are doubtless aware, Trump will be infesting New Hampshire tomorrow; he’ll be holding a rally at the Manchester airport. Sununu said he’ll show up to greet Trump, and then hotfoot it out of there on the grounds that he doesn’t want to catch Covid-19. The Trump campaign says it will comply with masking, hand sanitizing, and social distancing requirements.
Last time Trump tried to hold a NH rally, he bailed because no one was going to show up for it. His excuse was Tropical Storm Fay, which neglected to appear as well.
If this Friday fandango turns out to be a bust, which I hope it does, will Trump be able to blame the remnants of Hurricane Laura? They won’t get here soon enough–if they do. And the forecast for tomorrow is mostly sunny and 81 degrees.
Fauci: I was under anesthesia when CDC scaled back coronavirus guidelines
From the New York Daily News. They have a way with words.
@Teve:
Thanks, I see there is more at the link.
@CSK: Hurricane remnants are projected to remain well south of here.
However, am I the only one thinking it’s a bit odd that he’s holding rallies when there’s a natural disaster unfolding in Louisiana? Doesn’t that seem in poor taste?
Also in NH, as I’ve noted before, it’s a fairly low bar to cross to become a state representative here (we have 400 representatives in our State House). I find it notable that while the Governor has called on this…person to resign, state party leadership has not.
@Jen:
Does Trump even know there’s a hurricane flattening Louisiana? Yes, I know he’s been briefed on it, but come on, Jen, the convention/coronation is what’s important.
Dear God, how could the NH Republican party want someone like Forsythe identifying with them?
@OzarkHillbilly: And worse yet, as a society we care more about sporting events with no live audiences being postponed than we do about unarmed citizens being killed by thugs wearing city uniforms because those citizens killed aren’t part of our group.
We’re a nation of Tyrells! 🙁
@Mr. Prosser: But the shooter wouldn’t have been needed to protect the city if it hadn’t been for the protesters. He would have undoubtedly stayed at home if everybody knew their place to begin with.
Thinking back on the early days of the pandemic, what I see is that there were attempts, not bad ones, at dealing with it preventively in a retail fashion.
This did not work.
It might have worked if, as was first thought, only symptomatic people were contagious. It’s hard to fault health authorities fro acting on the best information available at the time. But it’s plain to see the best information early on can be mistaken. It’s also clear every country must be better prepared.
Take the first SARS in 2003. That was more like we thought COVID-19 to be like. It spread mostly from symptomatic people, and thus it was contained in months. There were under 10,000 victims, according to Wikipedia, and under 1,000 fatalities. It did not spread to every country, either.
For the next pandemic, it would pay to 1) build up supplies of PPE, 2) treat it like COVID-19 regardless of what it turns out to be later on.
The second point is complex. Do we stop all air travel the world over for days or weeks? That would be very costly, but then see how costly COVID-19 has been. Do we lock down for days or weeks? Again, huge expense, but again see how expensive in human lives and human health COVID-19 has been. Do we limit large gatherings of people? This is less expensive to do. Do we encourage work from home? This is even less expensive.
I mention expense, because it will come down to that. That’s how people are like. Sure, it makes sense to stop travel and lock down and don masks for a few weeks or months, if the new disease is as bad as COVID-19. But what if we go through all that trouble and it turns out to be neither as deadly nor as contagious? Then it’s a huge waste of money and a big hit to the economy.
All I can say is “we did that with COVID-19 and see how it turned out.”
But, as Descartes observed, one can repair one’s house even if the whole city is falling apart. Regardless of what others do or think, at the first sign of a contagious, deadly virus, or other pathogen, I plan to take all the same precautions as if it were as bad as SARS-CoV-2.
In fact, aside from masks*, I did just that starting in early March. I stopped going out except for work and groceries and gasoline. as an introvert without much of a social life and zero family obligations, this was easy for me.
* I did wear a mask late in March, before most mandates came out, when I visited an office I knew would be crowded.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/kenosha-suspect-kyle-rittenhouse-trump-rally
@CSK:
@Jen:
His attitude is that it’s Louisiana’s fault they’re located on the gulf.
On lighter topics, the company changed gas station payment providers. I got my card yesterday and I’m told I could use it right away, but to install and log in the app first to see my allowed balance. Fair enough. I was emailed a user and password, and then downloaded the app. I noticed it has a low rating at the Play Store, and many comments to the effect that people can’t log in.
Sure enough, I can’t log in.
I still have over half a tank, so I don’t need to fill up, though I’m assured I can even if the app doesn’t let me log in.
This weekend I plan a repeat performance of the lentil stew I made earlier in the year. It has lentils, barley, chickpeas, turkey “bacon,” onions, potatoes, soybean sprouts, and bell pepper. Before the liquid cooking the lentils and potatoes is consumed, I add yellow mustard, grain mustard, chicken bullion, paprika, fine herbs, and black pepper.
@OzarkHillbilly: Since Covid-19, I allow myself 45 minutes of surf the web time each day (My wife has major immune concerns so I very much limit my time outside other than walking and biking). A few weeks ago in a six degrees of separation type of accident I stumbled on to the MGTOW website. I honestly thought it was a parody at first, especially when I read the comments. But eventually I realized these people are dead serious. There are some seriously sick people at the website, I felt like I needed to take a shower after looking ta it for a few minutes.
I posted a couple responses but every one of them ended WTF is wrong with you people? Scary that these people can vote.
Hurricane Laura Brings Down Confederate Monument in Louisiana After Officials Rejected Calls to Remove It
Someone on Twitter got a great photo of the fallen general: Link
@Gustopher:
The author of this article has confused etiquette and protocol, which are only distantly related. Etiquette is about correct behavior toward others; protocol is about correct deference to authority in a hierarchy. The Trump administration understands the latter pretty well; it’s the former that they’re clueless about.
@Monala:
Let’s remind all those Republicans that storms are acts of God.
@Monala:
It was God’s will that this monument should come down.
Sarah Jones at The Cut contextualizes the Aaron Coleman story:
Link
@MarkedMan: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report
This is why I want Biden to appoint the meaning attack dog available to run DOJ. I’ve always suspected this. If I were them, this would be what I would do. The Bureau brought these shitheads to nothing before– Domestic hate groups need be re-prioritized for the FBI and brought to nothing again.
Meanwhile, I just finished building by AR so its time to stock up on Ammo. That little POS that ran around Kenosha shooting people–Im sure his community is basking in his glory. There is a good chance this will happen again. Maybe its the PTSD—but Im not taking any chanced getting caught flatfooted. If you are black you’re on your own for personal defense.
I’ve watch this story play out in other countries–there are some people that will not self modulated their primal instincts until they have to price in personal risk to themselves.
@Jim Brown 32:
Early in the Obama admin, DoJ came out with a report on potential right wing terrorist activities that had begun during the Bush admin. There were specific changes to the law that were recommended and the usual suspects among the R’s shouted it down and though Dems held congress at the time, between recession fighting and the ACA, they felt that they had enough on their plate and chose to do nothing.
Careful with that AR, we don’t need another Philando Castile.
@Teve: Ill mention again that Democrats fundamentally do not understand what type of fight they are in. They THINK they are in a war of ideas–and are confused because Dem ideas sound (and are) superior to Republican ideas.
They are in an information war of TACTICs. This is fundamentally misunderstood writ large in the United States which is allowing Russia and China to undermine US built and let institutions that have kept a semblance of peace Post Cold War.
Tactics were used to sell the Gulf War.
Tactics were/are used to stymie health care reform.
Tactics won Donald Trump the election and keeps him at a 43% floor.
Its a dirty sleazy game–I know. But it resonates in the human pysche. QANON, Walls, Law and Order are all framee using information warfare tactics. Naturalization ceremonies at the Convention seem silly to us–its makes perfect since from an info war perspective.
Republicans don’t have to outrun the Bear, they only have to outrun the slowest person. They are not nearly in as much trouble as people think. Even Trump isn’t really for a fork to be stuck in him–although he should be.
Democrats are going to have to invest in acquiring enough info war tradecraft to counter what republicans are doing. There is no war of ideas to win–there is a hearts and minds fight. The two are not the same.
@Sleeping Dog: I know how to control a situation from a position of disadvantage. There is virtually no chance of that happening to me unless a cop made up their mind before exiting their car that they are going to shoot me. Unfortunately, many of my black brethren haven’t had access to some of the training I have had so they have fewer tools at their disposal to gain control of a situation while having the officer believe they are in control. Not quite Jedi mind-trickish but everyone drives away to move on with life–which is they way it should be 99.99999999% of the time.
@Monala: From your quote:
I would ask “why this second chance?”
Kids are horrible sociopathic monsters sometimes. And most grow out of it. They get smacked in the head by life enough times that they begin to recognize themselves in others who are getting smacked in the head. Empathy may not be learned, but recognizing to use it ahead of times is.
But, when a kid is horrible and causes real hurt to others… you don’t throw out the kid, but you don’t forget about it either. You give them little bits of responsibility until they can demonstrate they can handle it. Part of maturing is accepting the consequences of your actions, even if you didn’t intend to hurt anyone or you were a sociopathic little monster at times when you were 12.
State legislature at 19 is a bit much.
If his life story had been that he was horrible at 12, horrified at what he had done when he realized how it hurt someone, did community service to help others, kept it up for a few years, then… maybe. But that was not at all his life story. He just stayed a sociopathic little monster.
@Jim Brown 32:..There is no war of ideas to win–there is a hearts and minds fight.
The U of Arizona stopped a Covid outbreak on campus using wastewater testing:
The Augers of Spring
@Mister Bluster: Ooohh Trivia! I’d guess TR?
Trump joke of the day:
Q: Why did Trump leave the play at the intermission?
A: Because the program said “Act 2 (one year later)”, and he didn’t want to wait that long.
From Al Jazeera:
Why are some Republicans urging voters to vote Democrat?
It’s a half-hour interview, but it’s worth watching the whole thing.
Anthony Scaramucci was a strong supporter of Trump, and was his Press Secretary–for 11 days. What he has to say now is pro-republican–and aggressively anti-Trump.
Add to that RVAT.
When Trump’s former inner circle says “vote for Biden”, Democrats need to set aside the hatred, step up, and show that they’re the party of unity.
@Gustopher:
So RATM was being more prophetic than descriptive….
test
Balls
Times Up
Per Google all three are credited with this prose.
I was only aware of Colson before today.
His quote is referenced in “All the Presidents Men” that I read in 1974.
What Conservatives Really Mean When They Call for Law and Order
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” — Frank Wilhoit.
@Mister Bluster:
Lyndon Johnson was supposed to have said it, too.
(Somehow I found a week old browser tab, and just put this in last Thursday’s forum… I need to close some browser windows…)
Mitch McConnell just said that Trump inherited the first generation where the children will not be as well off as the parents, and that he’s been working tirelessly to fix that (paraphrase).
It might be nice if Trump had approached this problem by attempting to lift the fortunes of the young, rather than let a disease spread that disproportionately affects the elderly, but if you are using a relative metric, that’s what you get.
People always try to game the metrics.
@CSK:..Lyndon Johnson was supposed to have said it, too.
I thought he said ears but it’s been long time.
Once again it’s up to Democrats to fix everything the Republicans break. When will people ever demand the same of Republicans?
And exactly which hatred is it you are talking about that we need to set aside?
The hatred of racism and it’s repugnant children?
Our hatred of environmental genocide?
Our hatred of a capitalist system that puts profits ahead of everything else?
I could go on but please, do tell me what it is I have to do to satisfy you.