Someone wrote: Sarah Huckabee Sanders is said to be planning a bid for Arkansas governor, in what will be a test of former President Trump’s strength in the GOP.
I would say it’s more a test of the appetite of the people of Arkansas for a professional liar. Whether or not she was more egregious than Sean Spicer or Kayleigh McEnany is a matter of debate, but Sanders was indeed remarkable for her ability to stand in front of a camera, fully composed, and rattle off assertions about the president that had no basis in fact whatsoever.
Arkansas is a conservative state; that’s fine. But will its people willingly and knowingly elect someone with essentially zero personal integrity to govern them? We’re about to find out.
Part of what makes Trump’s popularity so astonishing is the large number of obvious “tells” he gives off, proving that he couldn’t care less about his supporters, his party, or his country. Now, so as to put pressure on Republicans who oppose him and may wish to convict him in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, Trump is considering breaking away from the GOP and establishing a new party, perhaps called “MAGA” or “Patriot.”
Although the prospect of facing challengers in the 2022 primaries for Republicans up for re-election may scare them into compliance, the only real effect such a move could possibly have, of course, is further fracturing the Republicans, making it more difficult than ever for them to regain control of any aspect of the federal government.
Here’s a fellow raising money on crowdfunder.com to make a machine that he describes as follows:
Lets (sic) fight climate change together. …. My first full size prototype will have 3 alternators around it each alternator producing 1.75kw so totaling 5.25kw of power from a 0.18kw motor.
Wow! That’s an efficiency of 2900%! Who would have thought it possible that some dip**** could have torn the cover off the first and second laws of thermodynamics!
Seriously, this guy is headed for prison, but not before he takes a few thousand bucks from some suckers.
Trump leaves office in a country half of whose population believes that the 2020 election was rigged, and that he was illegally removed from office by some mysterious conspiracy, just as he was working so selflessly and effectively to make America great again.
That 74 million voters can be duped in 2020 means that you and I live among 74 million people who will believe essentially anything, if it comes out of the mouth of a clever demagogue, and is supported by a “news” channel.
Are we to suppose that Trump was the last of his kind, and this type of lunacy can’t arise again in the future?
Are we to believe that the hatred of blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQs, and, to a certain degree, women, is simply going to evaporate?
Will our educational standards magically rise to the point that people can spot and reject bald-faced lies and other assertions that fly in the teeth of basic science?
The answer to all these questions, of course, is no.
That doesn’t mean that the country is doomed, but it certainly means that letting our guard down because “the episode is concluded” is a truly terrible idea.
Below is a good example of something that is absolutely true, though it’s just as absolutely worthless. For NRA followers, a nuanced discussion of gun control is simply not going to happen. (more…)
There have been a decent number of posts here recently on the importance of quality education as the underpinning of an effective democracy. Here’s an article readers may find interesting; it covers the value of growing up in a bilingual environment. (more…)
As I’ve mentioned, 2GreenEnergy “headquarters” is in a rural part of Santa Barbara County in Central California. Just as liberal as the City of Santa Barbara itself is, the cow towns that lie elsewhere in the region tend to be very “God and country,” which means lots of flags, pickup trucks, cowboy boots, saloons, and guns.
“Trump 2020” signs and flags were everywhere during the campaign. “Biden/Harris” insignia were almost entirely absent, perhaps because Democrats feared vandalism.
Yet it was after the election that things got interesting. Who would take his “Trump” sign down, and when?
Until the inauguration, at least as far as I could discern, not a single sign came down, presumably out of participation in the “Stop the Steal” movement. It wasn’t until several days later that things began to change. That makes sense. Before the inauguration, the Trump message could be read as “I am a patriot.” After that, it could only be interpreted as “I’m a seditionist.”
Having said all this, here we are, four days into the Biden administration, and we still boast quite a few Trump signs, like the shot I just took at the top of the post.
The one to the right is a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, taken just a few blocks from the one above. Dude, not only will I not tread on you, I really don’t want to come within 50 meters of you. Ever. For any reason.
It’s the birthday of rock legend Warren Zevon, who died of cancer at the age of only 56, but not before leaving us with this masterpiece, The Vast Indifference of Heaven.
There are dozens of variations on the theme of existentialism, but most of them assert that we live in a universe, devoid of meaning, that is coldly indifferent to our happiness. While some people find this disturbing, others take delight in the idea that it is up to them to confer meaning onto their lives; they are fundamentally free to do anything they choose in order to make that happen.
Business is booming for survivalist e-commerce sites, and anyone can see why. The coup attempt failed, but it showed the whole world what this could have been like had the U.S. Capitol and the 50 state capitols been stormed by the many millions of armed “Stop the Steal” people, if they had been properly and covertly coordinated. The ad here offers four weeks of meals, packed and preserved for “an emergency.”
Everyone wants to “be prepared for anything.” Speaking for myself, I’ll trade freeze-dried food for plenty of law enforcement and National Guard personnel, deployed to make sure the scene depicted here never happens.