And Mankind’s folly Ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, a book arrived unexpectedly from an old friend. John Nation writes about his exploration of WWI battlefields in France in “A Nomad in No Man’s Land.” It began with a simple road sign, Ligne du Front–“Front Line.” The Somme battlefield. Brian Klaas reflects today on his recent visit to Normandy cemeteries. “From the beginning, then, there was a tension” in memorials to the Confederate war dead, Klaas writes, “between paying respects to those who had died—the sons and fathers and brothers—and a debate over whether you could ever separate out the injustice of a war’s cause from those who fought in it. For some, the answer was absolutely not. After all, Confederate soldiers fought to keep others enslaved, one of the great stains on human history.” Above the WWII beaches in Normandy stand memorials to the “sheer scale of that human tragedy” that occurred there marked by row upon row of white marble headstones: 9,387 in the Allied cemetery. The Nazi cemetary, Klaas expplains, “is dark and black.
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All you need to know about 2024 A president: A sociopath: A robot:
… about truth and democracy anyway Liz Cheney says they told her to lie if she wanted to keep her seat. Of course they did: Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) told Colorado College graduates in a commencement speech Sunday the U.S. “cannot remain a free nation if we abandon the truth,” as she took aim at fellow Republicans and former President Trump. “My fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of Jan. 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous,” said the former vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel that investigated the Capitol riot, who hasn’t ruled out running for president in the 2024. “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership,” continued Cheney, who was ousted as the No. 3 House Republican after she called out Trump’s false election claims.
The news media is always pounding on the fact that polls say that people think Biden is too old and mentally decrepit to run for another term. (His apparent ability to close a deal with the batshit House GOP without giving away the store argues otherwise but …) I have always wondered why they don’t ask the same question about Trump. He’ll be 77 in a couple of months and there’s plenty of evidence that he’s the one not playing with a full deck: As it turns out people are just as concerned about Trump’s brain function as Biden’s — and they have much greater concerns about Trump’s character: A Fox News poll found that 56% of Americans do not believe former President Donald Trump has the “mental soundness” to be president. A survey conducted by the conservative outlet gave Trump a 33-point lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). The survey also compared President Joe Biden’s character to Trump. Biden had a 9-point advantage over Trump regarding honesty and an 8-point lead for empathy. 11% fewer people also believe that Biden is corrupt.
That goes beyond flattery. It’s rhetorical fluffing. It’s hard to believe he isn’t joking. But he isn’t. I don’t know if Levin has been gargling lead infused water all his life or if this is sheer opportunism. But even Tucker Carlson doesn’t go this far. It’s frightening. And, by the way, Trump hears this too. And he believes it as much as his followers do.
A large majority of Americans want stricter gun laws. They are tired of seeing their kids mowed down on a weekly basis: A majority of Americans in a new poll released on Friday said they would support stricter gun control laws. Sixty-four percent said they were in favor of stricter laws, while 36 percent said they were opposed, the CNN-SSRS poll found. A slightly smaller portion — 54 percent — said that such gun control laws would reduce gun-related deaths in the country, and 58 percent said they believe the government is able take effective action to prevent mass shootings. Some 59 percent in the survey said they were in favor of banning semi-automatic rifles, while 94 percent said they would support taking measures to prevent convicted felons and those with mental health issues from owning guns. Eight in 10 also said people under the age of 21 should be barred from purchasing any type of gun, the poll found.
Republicans are wringing their hands about Teflon Don Oh heck. Maybe failing to push for the 2nd impeachment which would have barred him from office was a mistake. Oops. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ technology-challenged but donor-rich entry into the GOP presidential primary cemented his place in the early primary as the chief alternative to Trump. But it will hardly clear the field. And with a growing cast of characters still waiting in the wings to announce their own campaigns, warning signs of a 2016 replay are once again flashing in the GOP. According to interviews with nearly a dozen GOP strategists, former candidates and party insiders, the intraparty dynamics now at play — and Trump’s own alchemical grip on the base — suggest a primary where a constellation of Republicans once again risk splitting the non-Trump vote in early nominating states.
“Texas AGs have often been scoundrels” Seems the blush is off the Texas rose (Texas Tribune): For Angela Paxton, June 1 will always be “I love you day,” the anniversary of the first time a baby-faced Baylor undergrad named Ken told her he loved her. This year, “I love you day” will have a dark cloud looming over it, as that young man, now the attorney general of Texas, faces removal from office by the state Senate — of which Angela Paxton is a member. On Saturday, the Texas House voted 121-23 to impeach Ken Paxton on a range of charges, at least one of which involved his wife, and at least one of which related to an alleged extramarital affair. Ken Paxton is suspended while the Senate decides whether he should be removed from office. Paxton’s reputation as a scoundrel did not stop him in Texas from becoming attorney general. He has been under indictment for felony securities fraud for nearly eight years. His lawyers have managed to redirect the case to friendly turf his home county and delay, delay, delay. If it wasn’t beneath him, presidential candidate Donald Trump might tap Paxton for pointers.
Nothing is real AI tools are the hot new toys every kid wants for Christmas. Just like crypto was the hot, new, get-rich investment? We gave a sidelong glance at using AI in political campaigns just last week. The Atlantic‘s Russell Berman offers another take beginning with the CEO of the company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, practically begging Congress (in Berman’s telling) to regulate his industry. Firms hyping the new tools name-drop candidates such as former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman whose campaigns have used them already. But? “I don’t remember anyone using AI for anything on that campaign,” Kenneth Pennington, a digital consultant and one of the Fetterman campaign’s earliest hires, told me. Promoters pitch generative-AI as a way for small-time candidates to campaigns like the big kids, using it “to create digital ads, proofread, and even write press releases and fundraising pitches.” And to increase the number of targeted ads and emails you spend time blocking and deleting.