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There’s lots of reporting that the GOP primary field is about to get very crowded. Christie, Sununu, Youngkin, a Dakota Governor nobody’s ever heard of on top of already announced DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are preparing to run against Donald Trump. Why is this happening when it was assumed that the smart move for the party was to field just one opponent to confront Trump? Well… Meatball Ron just isn’t making anybody’s heart beat faster: No seasoned, successful politician runs for president without a theory of the case — a detailed and plausible path to victory. And as more prospective candidates surface, it’s becoming clearer what’s at the heart of those plans: a growing belief within the party that DeSantis is a paper tiger. At one time, the Florida governor looked to be the candidate best positioned to knock off Trump, en route to finishing off President Joe Biden. DeSantis was Trump without the baggage — and 32 years younger. He was coming off an epic 2022 reelection victory in the nation’s third-largest state, marked by Florida’s biggest winning margin in 40 years.
He appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who shocked the nation with rulings that dramatically took away rights. He sided with the racists who used “states’ rights” to push through undemocratic policies locally. And he’s the only American president who lost a reelection bid but returned to office in the following election. Yes, I’m thinking of former New York governor and Democrat Grover Cleveland who first won the presidency in 1884, lost his reelection bid in 1888, only to successfully regain the presidency in 1892 against then-incumbent Benjamin Harrison. In 2024, Donald Trump hopes to repeat that history in all its ugliness by becoming the second former president to recapture the White House. And mind you, the consequences of that... Read more
This has an air of desperation to it, I’m afraid. They are flailing around with one investigation after another, now this nonsense based on the Durham dud. But it does serve one purpose. it keeps the Trump cult conspiracy nuts excited. But I’m fairly sure that if they launch yet another crusade against Hillary Clinton the general public will not be amused.
Since when do you need ID to go into a bathroom? (That apparently happened some years ago but you can bet it’s happening today.) Take a look at these horrible people who are institutionalizing more of this grotesque nonsense: Members of the conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty are known for making impassioned and sometimes spicy speeches to school boards to complain that teachers are supposedly indoctrinating students. This can include mothers, often in the group’s trademark tee, standing at a lectern reading sex scenes from books they deem inappropriate to have near their children. Supporters post videos of these speeches, some of which have gone viral. And the group has claimed success, pointing to growing membership nationwide as well as policies and elections going their way. But because Moms for Liberty is working on such a local level, opponents have found plenty of opportunities to take action. “I just got back from forcibly re-closeting myself for 90 minutes to infiltrate a Moms for Liberty meeting. … I got so much juice!” a TikTok user who goes by Morgan Howls said in a video.
Sadly, I’m sure his vacuous followers think this is just great: Russia has expanded its list of sanctioned Americans in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the latest curbs imposed by the United States. But what is particularly striking is how much President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is adopting perceived enemies of former President Donald J. Trump as his own. Among the 500 people singled out for travel and financial restrictions on Friday were Americans seen as adversaries by Mr. Trump, including Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who has investigated and sued him. Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia who rebuffed Mr. Trump’s pressure to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election, also made the list. And Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot the pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021, was another notable name. None of those three has anything to do with Russia policy and the only reason they would have come to Moscow’s attention is because Mr. Trump has publicly assailed them.
In the 1980s, then Prime Minister Bob Hawke told us we should try to become the clever country. Instead, we have become the stupid country. We now have the trade pattern of a poor developing nation. It is obvious that the decade of Coalition government has moved us away from that goal, giving us instead Continue reading »
If you witnessed a war crime, what would you do? Since the US led capture of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy into the UK’s Belmarsh prison, he has served four torturous years of detainment. Julian’s family, their international team of lawyers along with a growing number of leaders, scholars, concerned citizens – and especially Continue reading »
In March 2023, the Australian Defence Department confirmed the arrival of an F/A18G Growler aircraft to replace a similar aircraft which was destroyed in January 2018 while on a training exercise. It had flown less than 120 hours. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofan engines. According to the Royal Australian Air Continue reading »
Albo, the socialist, has omitted too many social factors in his first full budget, a year after his election. In choosing to focus mainly on economic factors, with some adjustments to very real inequitable payments, he is ignoring the problems created by four decades of neoliberal assumptions. This emphasis on the economy over society puts Continue reading »
It is remarkable how the media in a select few countries is able to set the record on matters around the world. The European and North American countries enjoy a near-global monopoly over information, their media houses vested with a credibility and authority inherited from their status during colonial times (BBC, for instance) as well Continue reading »
In recent years, to contain and isolate China, the United States has repeatedly accused China of continuously ignoring, abusing, distorting, undermining, or violating the rules and institutions of the “rules-based” “liberal international order” (LIO). The US alleges that the goal of China is not only to undermine this international order but to build a China-centered, self-seeking Continue reading »
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – May 21, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
(anti)Republican Party debt charade
Six Legal Reasons the Federal Budget Is Its Own ‘Debt Ceiling’ – and ‘Floor’
The assumption is that if only Biden will give the Freedom Caucus everything they want — in other words, destroy all of his accomplishments and more — then they will allow the government to pay its debt. No. They. Will. Not. Once they realize Biden will give them anything there will be no end to it, even if the country defaults. Krugman asks the right questions here: So much writing on the debt ceiling right now seems utterly behind the curve. The question now is what does Biden do if Rs refuse any deal that doesn’t effectively give them complete control of US policy? Or maybe even actively seek financial crisis? Unilateral actions might fail — or be blocked by a partisan Supreme Court. But what are people pointing out these risks saying that Biden should do? Capitulate completely? (Even that might not be enough). If that’s the plan, say it clearly. That is the plan but it won’t be enough. The only legislative way out of this is for the Senate to pass a bill and send it back to the House.
If you don’t care what happens to other people — if you only care about yourself — why would you care to live in a democracy? President Barack Obama repeatedly emphasized the importance of empathy, which he identified as one of the most important things his mother had taught him. He defined it as “the ability to […]
A mother’s reply to bills targeting her kid After Nebraska passed its 12-week abortion ban last week (attached to a bill restricting “gender-affirming care for people younger than 19”), Spocko tweeted out a tee shirt he helped design last year. He got my attention. Spocko is very good at that. NPR reported: Conservative lawmakers called in a visibly ill colleague so they would have enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill, has promised to sign it into law. The mood in the Nebraska Capitol has been volatile since lawmakers on Tuesday advanced by a single vote the hybrid measure that ties together restrictions that Republicans have pursued across the U.S. One lawmaker, Omaha state Sen. Megan Hunt, disclosed in March that her teenage son is transgender and said Friday that she now plans to leave the state. In case you missed Hunt’s response from the floor, here it is: “I’m asking you to love your family more than you hate mine.” Her GOP colleagues don’t. They demonstrated that by their actions and their votes. And the tee shirt.
“Government spends too much” is back We know how this goes. When Republicans lack the ability to control the fate of legislation, they are born-again, small-government fundamentalists. Government is too big. Government spends too much (on the Irresponsibles). Deficits must be brought under control! Then when they hold the White House, they backslide. Tax cuts : GOOD. Deficits : MEANINGLESS. But the push-pull budgeting conversation is too wonky for the general public to wrap its brain around. To default or not to default is an inside-the-Beltway drama. Or one for G7 leaders to fret over. Until it tanks your retirement fund or hammers the dollar. The remoteness makes it difficult for the left to effectively exploit the shameless flip-floppiness of conservative lawmakers on spending. The only people paying attention are the people already paying attention. Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued one of his “stubborn aphorisms” on the subject on Friday: “Washington has to spend less.” “And indeed, Washington could spend less,” responds Prem Thakker at The New Republic.
How to stop private equity from using huge campaign contributions to get their way.
Economic theory, like anthropology, ‘works’ by studying societies which are in some relevant sense simpler or more primitive than our own, in the hope either that relations that are important but hidden in our society will be laid bare in simpler ones, or that concrete evidence can be discovered for possibilities which are open to […]
About 50 workers at hospital and health care supplier Onelink in western Sydney took four days of strike action this week for wage rises to keep pace with the cost of living and higher redundancy payments.
The post Onelink workers strike for a cost of living pay rise appeared first on Solidarity Online.
The 2023 Seattle International Film Festival is wrapping up this weekend (my eyes hurt-oy) and I have a few more reviews to share. Hopefully, some of these films will be coming soon to a theater (or a streaming service) near you! Adolfo (Mexico) ***½ – Strangers in the night, exchanging…cactus? Long story. Short story, actually, as writer-director Sofia Auza’s dramedy breezes by at 70 minutes. It’s a “night in the life of” tale concerning two twenty-somethings who meet at a bus stop. He: reserved and dressed for a funeral. She: effervescent and dressed for a party (the Something Wild scenario). With its tight screenplay, snappy repartee, and marvelous performances, it’s hard not to fall in love with this film. Being Mary Tyler Moore (USA) ***½ – Robert Redford recalls in this film, “I had a place in Malibu. I was sitting there, looking out at the ocean, and this woman walks by. What it looked like to me was that she was sad.
