The Conversation -- June 16, 2025
Reagan Judge Overrules Trump/Musk Discriminatory Cuts. Zach Montague of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Monday declared the Trump administration’s move to cut hundreds of grants issued by the National Institutes of Health illegal, accusing the government of discrimination against minorities and L.G.B.T.Q. individuals. Ruling from the bench, Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered the government to restore much of the funding. Judge Young, a Reagan appointee with 40 years of experience as a federal judge, said the Trump administration’s rationale for canceling the grants, which support research into topics such as gender identity and equity in health care, appeared to be rooted in prejudice. He noted the administration’s efforts to eliminate any trace of diversity and equity initiatives from the federal government, as well as its attacks on transgender people. He said that throughout his career he had 'never seen government racial discrimination like this,' and that he felt duty bound to state his conclusion about the government’s intent.”
Tony Romm of the New York Times: “The Trump administration broke the law when it withheld funding for the nation’s libraries, a nonpartisan government watchdog said on Monday, a finding that inches the White House another step closer to a legal showdown over its powers to reconfigure the country’s spending. The decision by the Government Accountability Office was the second time in two months that oversight officials have found fault in the ways that ... [Donald] Trump and his top aides have tried to circumvent lawmakers in their quest to reshape the federal budget so that it conforms with their political views.... The accountability office, an arm of Congress that keeps watch over the nation’s spending, concluded on Monday that the library agency ultimately “ceased performing” its functions after the president’s directive, and withheld funding that lawmakers had previously appropriated to carry out its mission. Ethics officials ultimately classified the interruption in aid as an illegal impoundment, which is prohibited under a 1970s law meant to restrict the president and his ability to defy Congress on spending. The White House maintains that those limits are unconstitutional....”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post: “The Army’s 250th birthday parade was not the grand military spectacle that many anticipated, and for that Americans can breathe a momentary, measured sigh of relief. It was a family-friendly conclusion to a celebratory day, with events on the Mall and fireworks at the end. What had been billed as an overwhelming display of military might turned out to be a linear history lesson, from the early days of revolution to the age of robotic dogs and flying drones. A narrator made sense of it all over loudspeakers and for those watching the live stream on television, with a sfmacript that rarely strayed from the Army’s disciplined sense of itself as a lethal fighting machine in the service of democracy and the Constitution.” ~~~
~~~ Still, Everything Trump Does Is Shady. Minho Kim of the New York Times: “Saturday’s military parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army was sponsored by at least four brands that have strong financial and political ties to ... [Donald] Trump, raising questions about whether the event benefited his allies and supporters. Attendees who sought relief from the sweltering heat on the National Mall found free cans of a new energy drink brand sponsored by Dana White, who is the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest allies. Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm whose contracts with the federal government are expanding, and Coinbase, a cryptocurrency firm that donated to the president’s inauguration, also sponsored the event. Oracle, a database company whose co-founder is a close friend of Mr. Trump’s, received a shout-out on Saturday as a sponsor. U.F.C. was mentioned as a sponsor during the military procession and on the event’s website.... Federal regulations prohibit the use of public office for the private gain of officeholders or their friends, relatives or nongovernmental affiliates, said Richard W. Painter..., chief ethics lawyer ... under President George W. Bush.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Guests on MSNBC last night who attended the parade said soldiers were handing out cans of Dana White's energy drinks to the people in the crowd. What could possibly be wrong with that? ~~~
~~~ Josh Marcus of the Independent, republished in Yahoo! News: “... the Trump administration was quick to tout what appeared to be inflated attendance numbers and brand the 'No Kings' protest, which drew millions across events in some 2,000 cities and small towns across the country, as an 'utter failure with minuscule attendance.' 'Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army,' White House commmunications director Steven Cheung wrote on X.... Outside estimates, meanwhile, suggest there were far fewer in attendance than the 200,000 people expected to view the parade, which coincided with the president’s birthday. Empty bleachers and gaps in the audience could be seen in the crowd that turned out to watch more than 6,000 soldiers and 128 Army tanks roll through Washington. '... it was something closer to a medium-sized town’s July 4th celebration,' The Independent’s Richard Hall wrote in his dispatch from the event. 'There were families, picnics, bad weather and small crowds.'... The 'No Kings' events ... [drew] between four and six million people, according to an estimate from data journalist G. Elliot Morris and outside analysts. The event’s organizers have put the number at more than 5 million.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Thanks to everybody who might have enjoyed the parade and would have come out for this Flag Day parade but did not because Trump. ~~~
~~~ Ruth Ben-Ghiat in a New York Times op-ed: “In the space of a week, the American public has been treated to two highly unusual sights: first, federalized National Guard members and active-duty Marines dressed for combat on the streets of Los Angeles, ready to stand opposite civilians protesting ICE roundups; then an extravagant military parade in Washington on the 250th anniversary of the Army’s founding — and on Mr. Trump’s birthday.... Mr. Trump appears eager to create optics that support his claim that public dissent constitutes an existential threat to the nation. He also apparently seeks to get the American public used to seeing our armed forces ... as an institution that serves at the behest of a leader and his ideological and political agendas, regardless of how much these depart from democratic understandings of the military’s role.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Size Matters. Paul Krugman: "... the victory or defeat of competitive authoritarianism will depend to a large extent on which side ordinary people believe will win. If Trump looks unstoppable, resistance will wither away and democracy will be lost. On the other hand, if he appears weak and stymied, resistance will grow and — just maybe — American democracy will survive. So what we saw on Saturday was more than just the juxtaposition of a poorly attended parade that was supposed to glorify the Leader against massive, enthusiastic protests. We also saw a body blow to Trump’s image of invincibility and a demonstration that millions of Americans are willing to stand up for democracy.... Trump spent his first 6 months in office trying to steamroller over all opposition, creating the impression that resistance is futile. Clearly, he hasn’t succeeded.... Despite the difficult times ahead, America has just passed an important test. May freedom ring." ~~~
~~~ Andy Borowitz, for once, posts a real report about the "No Kings" protests: "While America’s wannabe potentate staged a military parade as low energy as Jeb Bush, millions of Americans took to the streets to protest his failing fascist regime. On Saturday, I received an avalanche of texts from TBR community members reporting about their No Kings protests across the country. Here are just a few of their stories." ~~~
~~~ Marcie Jones of Wonkette has many more happy returns of the "No Kings" protest day celebrated around the country as well as some news about Proud Boys in Ocala and Miami and some other troublesome moments. ~~~
~~~ Guardian: “A demonstrator who was shot on Saturday during Salt Lake City’s 'No Kings' protest has died, Utah police said on Sunday afternoon. The man, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, had apparently been shot by a man who had been part of the event’s peacekeeping team. 'Our victim was not the intended target,' Brian Redd, the Salt Lake City police chief, said, 'but rather an innocent bystander participating in the demonstration.' Arturo Gamboa, 24, was taken into police custody on Saturday evening on a murder charge, said Redd at a Sunday news conference. Ah Loo had been taken to the hospital on Saturday evening, where he died from his wounds. Redd said a man in a brightly colored vest fired three shots from a handgun at Gamboa, inflicting a relatively minor injury to Gamboa but fatally shooting Ah Loo. Two of the peacekeepers in neon vests allegedly saw Gamboa separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and retrieve a rifle around 8pm, Redd said. When the two men in vests confronted Gamboa with their handguns drawn, witnesses said Gamboa raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd, said Redd. That’s when one of the men in the bright vests shot three rounds, hitting Gamboa and Ah Loo, said Redd. Gamboa, who police said didn’t have a criminal history, was wounded and treated before being booked into jail.... Police said they recovered an AR-15 style rifle, a gas mask and a backpack at the scene.”
Ana Swanson & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: “To save its takeover of U.S. Steel, Japan’s Nippon Steel agreed to an unusual arrangement, granting the White House a 'golden share' that gives the government an extraordinary amount of influence over a U.S. company. New details of the agreement show that the structure would give ... [Donald] Trump and his successors a permanent stake in U.S. Steel, significant sway over its board and veto power over a wide array of company actions, an arrangement that could change the nature of foreign investment in the United States. The terms of the arrangement were hammered out in meetings that went late into the night on Wednesday and Thursday, according to two people familiar with the details.... U.S. Steel’s charter will list nearly a dozen activities the company cannot undertake without the approval of the American president or someone he designates in his stead.... In an update on Saturday to members of the United Steelworkers union, which had strongly opposed a sale to Nippon, its president, David McCall, expressed displeasure about the deal.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: It isn't socialism, it isn't deep-state regulation, it isn't bureaucratic red tape -- if a Republican does it???
In case you were worried that Trump wanted to turn the U.S. into a fascist state like Russia, here some news: he wants to turn it into a totalitarian state like North Korea: ~~~
~~~ Candice Norwood of Politico: “... Donald Trump said Friday that he wants 'my people' to 'sit up at attention' the way North Koreans do for dictator Kim Jong Un. The comment came during an impromptu interview with Fox News..., days after Trump met with Kim in Singapore as part of an effort to reach a denuclearization deal with Pyongyang. When asked about whether Kim would be visiting the White House any time soon, Trump responded 'it could happen.' He then went on to praise the dictator for being a strong leader. 'He’s the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head,' Trump said to Fox. 'Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.' When later asked by another reporter to expand on the remark, Trump said he was 'kidding.'... It’s not clear if Trump was referring to his staff or to a broader set of Americans when he referred to 'my people.'” ~~~
~~~ Akhilleus found the videotape. IMO, Trump does not sound as if he's kidding. What Trump means by "strong," in a political and societal context, is "repressive."
Trump the Totalitarian, Ctd. Aamer Madhani of the AP: “... Donald Trump on Sunday directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, a move that comes after large protests erupted in Los Angeles and other major cities against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Trump in a social media posting called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials 'to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.' He added that to reach the goal officials 'must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.' Trump’s declaration comes after weeks of increased enforcement, and after Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump’s immigration policies, said ICE officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump’s second term.... Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he heard from hotel, agriculture and leisure industries that his 'very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them' and promised that changes would be made .” Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
~~~ Marie: Madhani does not report Trump's full deportation message, but Heather Cox Richardson does (also linked elsewhere on the page). I urge you to read Trump's full rant (it's a ways down her "letter"). Not only does Trump go into full attack mode against Democrats, he really proves what Ken W. obliquely suggested yesterday: that Trump's enthusiasm for deporting immigrants is more opportunistic than ideological. Where it doesn't suit Trump to round up immigrants, TACO Trump he is backing off, but where he can use raids on immigrants and military occupations to destabilize cities run by Democrats, he's all in. Meanwhile, Richardson's full post is worth reading.
Steve Karnowski, et al., of the AP: “The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge. Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.” The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Rachel Scott of ABC News: "... Donald Trump told ABC News on Sunday that he 'may' call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a political assassination sent shockwaves through the state. The president ... [told Scott,] 'Well, it's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he's a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too.'... A source close the Walz told ABC News that Walz and Vice President JD Vance spoke regarding the shootings. Another source familiar with the Minnesota governor told ABC News early Sunday afternoon that Trump has not called Walz. The source said that former President Joe Biden called Walz 'right away.'" Marie: it takes a twisted person yo use an interview question regarding political assassinations as an opening to criticize the governor of the state where the murders took place. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Is there any U.S. senator who is worse than Trump? Maybe Mike Lee: ~~~
~~~ Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: “With the suspected killer still on the run ― reportedly armed and carrying a manifesto targeting 'many lawmakers and other officials' ― [Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)] fired off a series of messages on social media. One suggested the suspect, Vance Boelter, was into 'Marxism,' despite reports that he was a religious conservative who had attended rallies in support of ... Donald Trump. Another tweet included an image of the suspect in a mask knocking on a victim’s door just before one of the shootings, which left two dead and two injured before Boelter was arrested Sunday night. 'Nightmare on Waltz Street,' Lee wrote, likely a reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). Lee’s critics called him out over over the message ― and some called for his resignation[.]” Mazza includes quite a few of the criticisms leveled against Lee. ~~~
~~~ Here's Steve M. with more on the theme that Democrats a/k/a Marxist Radical Liberals are terrorists who will gun down other Democrats should they stray from the radically liberal Marxist agenda. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Heather Cox Richardson: “Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) noted that MAGA has been 'bathed in political violence' for the last five years. Trump’s pardoning of the January 6 rioters, including those convicted of extreme violence, 'became a clear endorsement of violence committed in his name.' Trump has encouraged violence and cozied up to brutal dictators, while MAGA has fetishized guns. When he celebrates violence, unhinged people listen. Murphy points out that while people of all political persuasions commit violence, no Democratic leader encourages violence as a political norm the way Trump and MAGA have done, citing 'a straight line from Jan 6 to the pardons to the assault on Sen[ator] Padilla to Minnesota.'” ~~~
~~~ See also Akhilleus' commentary at the top of today's thread.
Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post interviewed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) about the April 13 attack on him and his family during which the governor's mansion was severely damaged.
Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: “As part of the GOP campaign attacking the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for the grim fiscal projections for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of tax and spending cuts pending in the Senate, [Sen. Tim] Scott [R-S.C.] posted a one-minute video that was instantly ridiculed for its errors — nine, by our count. That’s one mistake every 6.66 seconds. It even received a community note on the X platform. Apparently the senator, who chairs the Banking Committee, is beyond embarrassment.... But we thought it would be worth going through his commentary line by line, as it makes the sort of lazy arguments one might hear in a bar late at night.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course the ad is filled with lies. Just about everything Republicans say about the Big Bad Bill has to be a lie because the majority of Americans oppose most elements of the bill.
Democrats in Disarray! Shane Goldmacher & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: “The leaders of two of the nation’s largest and most influential labor unions have quit their posts in the Democratic National Committee in a major rebuke to party’s new chairman, Ken Martin. Randi Weingarten, the longtime leader of the American Federation of Teachers and a major voice in Democratic politics, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have told Mr. Martin they will decline offers to remain at-large members of the national party.... In their resignation messages, the two union chiefs suggested that under Mr. Martin’s leadership, the D.N.C. was failing to expand its coalition. Both labor leaders had supported Mr. Martin’s rival in the chairmanship race, Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: At least in recent memory, the DNC and RNC have been weak organizations, fraught with infighting and dominated, at best, by bad decision-making. Neither has been, as far as I can see, much of an asset to its party.
~~~~~~~~~~
Virginia. Gregory Schneider & Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: “Early voting was strong across Virginia this year in the 45 days leading up to Tuesday’s primary elections, in which voters will choose Democratic nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general and, in a handful of districts, candidates from both parties for the House of Delegates and local offices. Nearly 158,000 people had cast votes in Democratic primaries as of Thursday — up from 124,000 at the same point in Democratic primaries four years ago, when the party had a hotly contested, five-way primary for governor, according to analysis of the latest available data by the Virginia Public Access Project. Virginia’s early voting period, which is among the longest in the nation, ended Saturday. The totals also show a marked surge from a year ago, when about 120,000 voters cast ballots in a Democratic presidential primary that was never in doubt and as some in the party had little enthusiasm for then-President Joe Biden.... Former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is set as the Democratic nominee for governor, but six candidates are vying for lieutenant governor....”
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Iran, et al. Here is the New York Times liveblog of developments: “Israel said on Monday that it had struck the command center of Iran’s Quds Force, a special military unit that coordinates support for Iranian allies in the Middle East and reports directly to the country’s supreme leader. The attack on the Quds facility in Tehran, and the extent of any damage, could not immediately be verified independently. The strike was the latest by Israel since it began attacking Iran on Friday. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran, according to the country’s health ministry, and injured more than 1,400 people. In Israel, at least 23 people, identified as civilians, have been killed in retaliatory barrages by Iran. The hostilities have been some of the fiercest and most prolonged in the decades-long enmity between Israel and Iran, raising fears of a wider war that could draw in the United States and other powers. So far there has been no sign that either side plans to de-escalate.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Is there any democratically-selected national leader who is worse than Trump? Maybe Bibi: ~~~
~~~ Aamer Madhani of the AP: “... Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei. After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official.... The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.” The article goes on to outline related developments, so definitely worth a read. ~~~
~~~ Simon Tisdale of the Guardian: “Reasons can always be found to go to war. The roots of major conflicts often reach back decades – and this is true of the Israel-Iran vendetta, which dates to the 1979 Islamic revolution. The so-called 'shadow war' between the two intensified in recent years. Yet all-out conflict had been avoided, until now. So who is principally to blame for this sudden, unprecedented explosion? Answer: three angry old men whose behaviour raises serious doubts about their judgment, common sense, motives and even their sanity”; to wit, Netanyahu, Khamenei & Trump. “These angry old men could get us all killed.... Trump’s feeble ineptitude meant that when Israel’s leader insisted last week that the time was right for an all-out attack on Iran, he folded. Typically, once the attack began, he switched, trying to claim credit and issuing flatulent threats of his own.”
15 Comments
Reader Comments (15)
Posted this early in the morning on yesterday’s page so I thought I’d repost it at a better time.
Liars, as always
Never ones to miss an opportunity to politicize a traumatic event to their advantage (the very thing they constantly accuse liberals of doing after yet another “isolated event” gun murder), PoT hacks have been spreading lies about the Minnesota murderer. “Violent leftist!” screams Chainsaw Elmo. “Marxist Democrat!” brays moron Mike Lee. The New York Post, like almost ALL media outlets headlines the killers appointment by Tim Walz to an unpaid advisory group (along with a thousand others) as proof that there couldn’t possibly be a connection to the sainted right-wing.
Wrong, assholes. According to the shooter’s best friend, he was a huge Trump supporter who gave his life to Jesus as a teenager, a hater of LGBTQ communities, Muslims, Planned Parenthood, and abortion rights, who had a long list of Democrats targeted for assassination.
But once again, the MSM helps out the actual spreaders of violent rhetoric. In a piece on The NY Times website, the Walz connection is front and center. It’s not until the tenth paragraph that his support of Fat Hitler is mentioned, and then only in passing. A reader skimming the article would miss it entirely, but would be sure to see that Tim Walz was somehow connected.
Trump media will continue to ignore the killer’s true politics and hammer on the fact that Walz and his predecessor as governor appointed this guy to some huge advisory group.
They take no responsibility for anything. “Just a bad apple”, nothing to do with vicious Trump and right-wing rhetoric and ideology.
Addendum:
By now it’s an article of faith in MAGA world that the killer was an extreme liberal leftie. No amount of proof to the contrary will diminish their fervent belief that a supporter of lord and savior, Jesus Trump, could ever do anything wrong, never mind murder. Still, it’s important to not let it go. We need to call out their lies at every opportunity. The media will not, at least not to the extent it deserves. Trump has gotten away with grotesque lies for decades because no one calls him out. Enough of that shit.
Steve M. has a little on the assassin's background and the Republican response that Akhilleus mentions.
Lies vs Truth
Florida Law Enforcement
"Florida Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who threatened to kill anti-ICE protesters "graveyard dead," has a history of corruption, racial profiling and bribery in local campaigns, despite calling himself a "constitutional sheriff.""
AI Influence
"They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
Generative A.I. chatbots are going down conspiratorial rabbit holes and endorsing wild, mystical belief systems. For some people, conversations with the technology can deeply distort reality."
Molly Worthen, in The New York Times, defines Charisma (gift link)
"Charisma is not the same thing as charm or celebrity. Americans have mixed up these concepts since the 1950s and ’60s, when Weber’s idea leached into newspaper election coverage and everyday speech. When I began working on a book about charismatic leaders throughout American history, I was in this muddle myself. I confused charisma with charm: a person’s ability to engage you in conversation and make you feel like the center of attention.
But winning elections, beginning a mass movement or starting a religion requires more than a knack for working a room.
....
Charisma can be just as repellent as it is attractive, so it usually baffles or disgusts anyone not under its thrall.
....
Some of these figures [charismatic leaders] possessed good looks, great oratorical skills, sex appeal or charm — but surprisingly few, as far as I could tell.
They had something far more important in common: They promised to pull back the veil on secret truth. They revealed how followers’ struggles have a purpose — one that the reigning elites and institutions belittled or missed entirely."
Not Real Americans
"‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans
Department of Veterans Affairs says the changes come in response to a Trump executive order ‘defending women’
Medical staff are still required to treat veterans regardless of race, color, religion and sex, and all veterans remain entitled to treatment. But individual workers are now free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law.
Language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status has been explicitly eliminated.
Doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity, documents reviewed by the Guardian show. The changes also affect chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, optometrists, podiatrists, licensed clinical social workers and speech therapists."
This morning Paul Krugman got me to wondering if we ever really emotionally advance beyond high school. Molly Worthen's essay in the NYT, which laura hunter links above, doesn't change my wondering.
High school was all about popularity contests. The obvious ones governed our social lives. The contests were about our own popularity and the popularity of the people we associated with. There were ways to enhance and diminish our own popularity, and figuring out those ways, then executing them, could become fixations. To one degree or another, we all tried to make ourselves contest winners.
But besides the contests about who would be your date for the prom, etc., the structure of my high school encouraged other, formal popularity contests. We had to vote for student government jobs, and since none of us was qualified to do any governmenty thing, those student elections were essentially popularity contests.
Then in my school, & in perhaps yours, we voted on other things: who would be the club "sweetheart," who would be the homecoming queen and king. We had a whole buncha popularity contests embedded in our yearbook: we had to pick the smartest, the most athletic, the best dancer, and yes, the most popular.
All these formal choices we made in school were a form of democracy, a form of choosing winners and losers. It's the same damned way we choose our political leaders, leaders whose responsibilities and decisions are a lot most consequential than whatever it was we "decided" in student government (I truly cannot recall one decision, but I know that we voted on "policies" during our student government meetings and I recall that some were controversial).
Many of us voting adults are making electoral decisions based on criteria more substantial than how cute the nominee for "best all around" is. But clearly, many of us are basing our votes on criteria more vile than how cute the candidate is.
Democracy, as Krugman implies, is a popularity contest. And although our ballots may be secret, Krugman points out that most voters take their own popularity into account when they cast their ballots: they want to be on the winner's side. Krugman says that standing against Trump could "save democracy." But I think he missed his own message: Trump's election -- since he did win the popular vote in 2024 -- was democracy at work. And if voting for Trump was voting against traditional American democratic values, it's fair to say that an awful lot of Trump voters knew that.
Laura’s link to a piece about leaders reminded me of a fabulous podcast on Charisma, from the BBC program “In Our Time”. Specialists (oooh…don’t tell the MAGAts) in various fields discuss topics as varied as the Hanoverian succession, Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom”, wormholes, Monet in England, and Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics.
In this podcast they discuss Weber’s observations on how charisma works, even with unsavory characters and how the masses will follow them as long as the miracles they promise keep coming.
With a shady character like Trump, the miracles seem highly suspect. I’m thinking of an SNL bit with Father Guido Sarducci. Talking about the requirements for sainthood, he mentions that three miracles are necessary in order to achieve that status, and points to one guy who didn’t make it because one of his miracles was a card trick.
With Trump it’s more like card tricks that flop.
Anyway, it’s worth a listen. Highly recommended podcast.
RAS,
Re: lies and truth. Strange but true. Especially with morons.
Don't worry the miracles are only two weeks away.*
*Thinking about or discussing future miracle(s) resets their coming by two weeks
A little help from his friends…
Fat Hitler’s flop of a birthday parade needed some assistance to make it seem like there were thousands of adoring fans at this bullshit event. In the actual footage, Fatty waddles up to the mic in near silence. This wasn’t gonna fly with the MAGATs slavishly watching at home so Fox adds the cheers.
It sounds like the opening of the Super Bowl, with tens of thousands screaming in ecstasy for the Dear Leader. But the giveaway is that the camera never shows those thousands. Because they didn’t exist.
More faux from Fox.
Isn't it obvious Akhilleus, the Biden PBS Democrat Alliance used their crowd noise suppression machine on Dear Leader's great speech as a unholy attack on America, but the patronits at Fox were clearly ready with a desuppression machine so the people could hear the millions of birthday guests' cheers. The real scandal here is who the deep state operatives are who allowed the Democrat device to get so near El Presidente.
RAS,
Someone LUNGED at him with the dastardly machine (call the Gnome!)
Impeachment to follow. Or something…
Just wondering... They caught the Minnesota assassin. Without a shot being fired. Funny how 100 cops can converge on a multiple murderer who’s armed and dangerous, and the guy walks out in handcuffs. But a black guy with a broken taillight and a few specks of weed in his car always ends up dead.
I guess heavily armed white supremacists or Christian nationalist murderers aren't nearly as dangerous as an unarmed black guy.
Funny, in'it?