Obviously, the January 6th insurrection will remain an important incident in history as long as humankind maintains an organized society.
What remains to be seen, however, are things like this: What will be the most enduring quotes from this time, one that is both so perilous and so ridiculous at the same time?
At left we see a very good candidate.
We’ve all seen cartoons that describe our wishes as to how we’d like to see American democracy upheld.
This one does it as well as any, IMO.
We sometimes forget that animated cartoons can be used to make important political points in a clear and compelling manner.
Baby boomers in particular will love this piece on gun law reform.
From the New York Times: The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up scrutiny of sustainable investing, which has become popular but is said to lack accountability. (more…)
Fortunately, Americans have finite appetites for the stories of the individual insurrectionists, and, especially at this point, we’re far more interested in bringing the top architects of the coup attempt to justice.
We make exceptions for “man bites dog” stories, like the woman here, with an MD and a JD degree, who, before storming the Capitol, spent the last few years spreading anti-vax lies.
It’s natural to wonder how intelligent and accomplished people can get caught up in complete insanity like this.
Life isn’t pleasant for any prison inmates, but it’s rumored to be particularly ugly (and short) for those whose crimes violate the ethical mores of the common felons.
If you killed your wife because she was unfaithful, or even disrespectful, or if you got revenge against someone who had betrayed your family, that’s “no harm no foul.” Child molesters, however, as an example, face day-to-day threats against their lives, and many of them are killed within months, or even weeks, of their incarceration.
From this piece, it seems that the Proud Boys, white supremacist Trump supporters, fall into this second category. Imagine being surrounded by the scummiest people on Earth, only to have them regard you as even lower, hurling their feces at you whenever possible.
I’ve posted things like this before, because it’s a point worth making.
Americans get led around by the nose by politicians who take advantage of our ignorance and our insatiable thirst for hateful bullshit. It’s pathetic.
The core problem in the United States is that there are tens of millions of people, as much as 40% of the voter base, who believe the meme here.
Suppose all this had happened somewhere else. Imagine that some European country elected a president who told more than 30K lies in four years, blocked treatment for COVID-19, obstructed justice, committed extortion and fraud, and then topped it all off with an attempted coup.
To take an example, how many French voters would have stood by the side of such a person? 17?
In Georgia, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Kandiss Taylor really is running on the platform: Jesus, Guns, and Babies. As show at left, some jokester thought he’d have a little fun at Taylor’s expense.
As I’ve been explaining to my associates outside the country, times are bad here, as if they don’t know. Americans are living in a country in which almost half the voters believe that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, and that the coup attempt was a legitimate political act–one that should result in Trump’s reinstatement.
Having said that, things aren’t bad to the point that the voters in a state with half-decent education (#30 / 50) want to be governed by Ms. Jesus, Guns, and Babies. Won’t work.
Here’s an article that adds new insight into Southern Florida’s plight when it comes to flooding.
Sea-level rise accounts for a great deal of this, to be sure, almost a foot to date, far more than the coastal average. But as the water table rises, the wet stuff pushes up through the porous limestone and creates even greater flooding.
Building sea-walls sounds like a potential remedy, but they may wind up trapping water that otherwise would have drained back into the Atlantic.
Is it ironic, or is it karma, that Florida, a state known for its climate deniers, is slowing going away?
