Here’s an article that examines the many (they claim there are 13) different types of Trump supporters.
This might be too fine-grained. I like the simplicity of this:
• Racists and xenophobes
• Selfish and greedy people
• The willfully and hopelessly ignorant, including those with bad “brain wiring,” e.g., the extreme Christian right
Of course, any one person can be any two or all three of these.
Here’s another good example of how far we’ve fallen in terms of our capacity to recognize and deal with criminality when it comes from rich and powerful people.
Nixon would have clearly been charged with obstruction of justice had he not resigned. What Trump appears to have done, i.e., attempting to overturn the election and subvert our democracy, has to be hundreds of times worse. And still we’re quite reluctant to call this what it is: the crime of the century.
From Reuters: A former boxer charged with punching a Washington police officer in the head during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol faces a sentence of up to 51 months in prison after pleading guilty on Friday to two felony charges.
If assaulting police gets one four years, I’m glad I’m not going down on conspiracy against the United States, which is clearly the fate of the people who arranged the attack.
Of course, the most interesting aspect of all of this is what role, if any, did government officials have in the insurgency. At least a couple of Republican senators spoke with Trump that day. What did they say? The world can’t wait to find out.
Members of QAnon await the arrival of Trump
Here’s a 12-second video featuring Mike Lindell (The Pillow Guy) discussing the cyber symposium he’s putting together, in which he’ll prove that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. As you watch, think to yourself how it’s possible that there is such a huge market in the U.S. for pure insanity. As recently as five years ago, this just plain didn’t exist.
This reminds me of the environmental conferences I’ve attended at which bottled water is offered, and the symposium on alternative fuels whose keynote addresses was given by a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute.
The translation: Ocean of plastic…..Each year we add 8 million tons of plastic to our oceans.
The problem, of course, is the packaging for the magazine is only going to add more.
Also from 20th Century philosopher, mathematician, and logician Bertrand Russell: “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
When we look at present-day U.S. politics, we see fear all around us. Fear of government control, untested vaccinations, voter fraud, conspiratorial scientists, the deep state, socialism, immigrants.
We actually have real things about which to be concerned, e.g., that our planet’s on fire, but we don’t seem to be too worked up about that.
“I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.” How many times have you heard someone say that?
Yet, if something bad is going to happen to anyone, Dick Farrel isn’t a horrible choice. From The Independent:
A right-wing radio host who called vaccines “bogus bull shid” had a change of heart after being hospitalised with Covid-19, friends say. (more…)
According to Bloomberg, a combination of lower cost batteries, better energy density, and increase in the number of charging points is driving an enormous growth curve for electric vehicles. There were 3 million sold worldwide in 2020; these guys predict a 22X expansion on that number (to 66 million) by 2040.
Government also has a role in all this. The United States may be toughening CAFE standards, but that’s nothing like what’s happening in Europe, where it will soon become illegal to sell a new vehicle with an internal combustion engine. (more…)
This remark by U.S. patriot Thomas Paine, arguably the greatest force in bringing about the American Revolution, is even more important today than when it was made 250 years ago.
That’s because “trouble” is far more terrifying now than it was in the 1770s. Yes, there was the oppression of King George III, and the prospect that the rebellion might fail. Here, however, we have a world population that is approximately 100 times what is was then, and it’s being forced to deal with the existential threats of runaway climate change and environmental collapse, nuclear war, and world fascism.
Good people everywhere join Paine in hoping for a better, safer future for our descendants, and in working to make that happen.
