Is Kavanaugh standing back and standing by? The GOP loves a twofer, or even a threefer. Political maneuvering some might call strategic might less flatteringly be called sneaky or outright dishonest. Diabolical is not out of the running. Donald Trump withholds final payments to subcontractors, for example, just enough that court costs make it a losing proposition for a subcontractor to take him to court to recover what he owes. Or Trump plays delay, delay, delay when he finds himself in court holding a losing hand. Gerrymandering cases are another example. GOP legislatures draw district maps patently illegal under the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Democrats and aligned groups take them to court, win, and judges orders new maps. Then GOP legislators draw a second set of unacceptably gerrymandered maps, and the exasperated court appoints a special master to draw them instead. It happened in North Carolina. Or the GOP-led legislature might simply defy the courts until there is no time left before the next election to implement new maps. Something like what happened in Ohio. Or in the case of Alabama, that maneuver is where dark money meets hidden agenda.
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One thing which never ceases to bemuse me is the intellectual insularity of mainstream economics. Every intellectual specialization is, by necessity, insular. Specialization necessarily requires that, to have expert knowledge in one field—say, physics—you must focus on that field to the exclusion of others—for example, chemistry. Given the extent of human knowledge today, this goes … Continue reading "The Impossibility of Microfoundations for Macroeconomics"
Values drag Honestly, the headline summarizes well a column that tells us little we don’t already know, but let’s run with that: The Republican Party Has Devolved Into a Racket. But you knew that. Professors Sam Rosenfeld and Daniel Schlozman make their case that “the G.O.P. has lost a collective commitment to solving the nation’s problems and become purposeless.” But you knew that too. Trump, his Big Lie co-defendants, and Mitt Romney’s assessment of his Senate Republican colleagues marks a party “aimless … beyond the struggle for power and the demonization of its enemies.” The pair include a walk down memory lane from the 1970s until the party was consumed with conspiracism and its “long provenance on the American right, reaching back to McCarthyism and the John Birch Society.” “For Republicans, the only election results they respect are the ones that they win… I guess “heads I win, tails you lose” is the GOP approach to electoral democracy in America in 2023.
Are there not enough real problems to fret over? Democrats should have learned from the 2016 presidential race not to underestimate the commitment of the Republican tribe to its presidential frontrunner. Savvier GOP play-ahs may be nervous about having Donald Trump and his indictments running atop their 2024 ticket, but from what Mitt Romney revealed last week, many, many of them are too afraid of their violence-prone MAGA base to openly oppose him/them. An emergent “existential brand of cowardice,” as McKay Coppins put it, permeates the party leadership. That is to say that Democrats should know better this time than to count on some deus ex machina to recast the race that seems already cast … for both parties. What was it Andy Dufresne said in Shawshank? But Democrats being Democrats, they will. One thing Democrats are good at is self-doubt. Slate’s David Faris suggests (obliquely) that they get busy instead. He finger-wags at murmurings about a second-term VP for Biden: “Maybe the president should dump the veep” is a Beltway parlor game as old as time. Or at least as old as the writers doing the speculating. There were calls for George H.W.
Over the last few days as most of the media was blathering on about Joe Biden’s “bad week” , Donald Trump was stepping up his campaign and appearing at various venues saying things and behaving in ways that should have made journalists’ ears perk up, wondering if he’s lost more than a step. He was wildly dishonest and incredibly self-destructive even for him. It started with an interview with Megyn Kelly for her Sirius XM show last Thursday, the first since Trump crudely insulted her back in 2015 in the first presidential primary debate. Trump seemed to expect a friendly, Fox-like, interview and she gave him plenty of softballs and expressed her agreement with much of his nonsense. But she did ask some probing questions about his legal troubles and once again he more or less confessed to his crimes. He must have said the words “Presidential Records Act” a dozen times, reiterating over and over that he had every right to take any document he chooses. And he slipped up continuously, providing the prosecution plenty of fodder: Trump on taking classified documents: “I’m allowed to have these documents.
I would guess that most of you haven’t ever heard of Sneako, a right wing Youtube “influencer.” Here’s a short bio: Nicolas “Nico” Kenn De Balinthazy (born: September 8, 1998 [age 25]), better known online as Sneako, is a right-wing Muslim-American internet personality. Sneako is closely associated with figures such as Andrew and Tristan Tate, rapper Kanye “Ye” West, white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes, LeafyIsHere and the hosts of the Fresh&Fit Podcast. Through his main channel “SNEAKO” and second channel “SHNEAKO” on YouTube, Sneako amassed over 2,000,000 subscribers, up until his termination from the platform after repeated community guideline violations. He now posts content on the “alt-tech” platform Rumble.com You can get more details here but let’s just say this guy is a real piece of work.
To those who thought that Trump calling the 6-week abortion bans “terrible” in his interview this weekend would cause the “pro-life” movement to abandon him, think again. Aaron Blake of the WaPo asked Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America about it and this is what they said: If you ever thought the anti-abortion movement was about anything other than rank politics, you know better now. They are just another political interest group trying to maintain its power in the party. It’s what they’ve always been. These are people who’ve spent the last five decades screaming that abortion is murder. Now they’re talking about “ambition and common sense” and trying to sell a 15 week abortion ban in order to get votes for their side. Apparently, fetuses may be endowed with all the rights of fully formed human beings but maybe a little genocide under 15 weeks is a small price to pay to maintain political power? Looks like it.
Don’t listen to the Sirens. Don’t look at Medusa. It’s the GOP’s trusty “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi” tactic. They’re gonna “But her emails” Joe Biden from here to next November. With help from a compliant, both-sides press again. The GOP’s goal of course is to repeat unsubstantiated allegations often enough that they are the first impression that comes to mind when people think about the opposing candidate. Take for instance this word cloud Gallup assembled this time seven years ago: It’s a variant of poisoning the well. Newt Ginrich taught them well. In the Trump era, the GOP has abandoned “Optimistic Positive Governing Words.” (Governing is no longer their aspiration.) But Republicans are still hell at “Contrasting Words.” Republicans desperate to distract attention from their front-runner’s two impeachments, four indictments and an insurrection will flood the zone with “old,” “senile,” “corrupt,” “Hunter,” and “impeachment.” A little baseless impeachment here, a ton of innuendo there, and voila! Biden is damaged goods.
From the “I Can’t Even” files If not for Tucker Carlson and ball tanning, I’d think this was a joke (Washington Post): It’s been almost 2,000 years since the Roman Empire reached the historic peak of its power. But many men still contemplate it — quite a lot. A new social media trend prompting women to ask the men in their lives how often they think about ancient Rome reveals that it crosses the minds of many men on a weekly basis. Even daily. Or more — to the surprise and confusion of their loved ones. “Three times a day,” answered one woman’s fiancé in a TikTok video. “There’s so much to think about,” he explained, eliciting a stunned look into the camera from his soon-to-be wife. “They built an entire world-dominating society,” another man exclaimed when asked by a bewildered-looking woman to justify why he contemplates ancient Rome. Domination. Got it. @listenwithbritt #stitch with @HapaGirl learning new things after 13 years.
“We don’t have the evidence now, but we may find it later” — McCaul is what passes for a “serious Republican” these days pic.twitter.com/bPMX1YPOec — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023 Nancy Mace on ABC insists that there’s evidence Biden was bribed — but notably, she can’t seem to cite any! pic.twitter.com/steI1pOWML — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023 the call where Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the government there helped him dig up dirt on Joe Biden? is DeSantis’s position that extorting a foreign government is fine if it happens on the phone? https://t.co/uIqghdNLAi — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023 the call where Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the government there helped him dig up dirt on Joe Biden? is DeSantis’s position that extorting a foreign government is fine if it happens on the phone? https://t.co/uIqghdNLAi — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023