Bemused by people surprised re Afghanistan. This outcome widely forecast; anybody with two clues to rub together saw it coming 20 years ago. Last chance for anything different: when Cheney and Rumsfeld invaded Iraq rather than spend money and attention in Afghanistan.
Tag: politics
2021-05-31 06:44
I wish the NYT would quit referring to voter-suppression measures as “strict” voting laws.
2021-02-03 11:05
It is perpetually tempting to imagine letting the red states (whose voters imagine that they are getting the short end of the stick, when in fact they are vastly subsidized) go their own way. Tempting, but both impossible and harmful.
Much better, as cogently explained here by @interfluidity, is to build things up in the red states, so that their citizens perceive that they have an economic and political stake in the United States.
“The only way to mitigate this tendency towards corrosive crisis is to ensure that differences of interest between larger and smaller states are generally modest.”
2021-01-10 12:48
A hundred-odd members of Congress did not understand this. I wonder if they understand it better now.
“An elected institution that opposes elections is inviting its own overthrow.”
2021-01-10 09:36
This from Forbes is actually a pretty good start. All media outlets should commit to such a policy:
“Trump’s liars don’t merit that same golden parachute. Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie… Want to ensure the world’s biggest business media brand approaches you as a potential funnel of disinformation? Then hire away.”
Source: A Truth Reckoning: Why We’re Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable
2021-01-06 15:31
Pretty good address by Joe, but only pretty good. He called it insurrection and said it borders on sedition, but he hasn’t yet called it terrorism.
2021-01-02 06:09
We wouldn’t want to make it a regular thing, but just for 2021 I propose that we consider the year as beginning on January 20th. That would make today January -18.
2020-11-24 12:52
We did not prosecute Nixon, but we did prosecute his enablers (Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean, etc.). Because of this a generation grew up knowing: If you commit crimes for the president, he will not go to jail but you will.
That is the lesson that the next generation needs to learn. Ignore Trump; prosecute his corrupt enablers.
“There is a social cost to not pursuing potential criminal cases. But the alternative is arguably costlier.”
Source: The case against indicting Trump
2020-09-25 15:01
On one of my top-two issues when it comes to means-testing benefits, @interfluidity gets it just right:
“Requiring demonstration of inadequate means up-front, rather than on the back-end, creates at best a delay between when a shock is experienced and when it can be ameliorated. “Delay” can mean your kid skips meals, you start rationing your insulin, or your family is evicted from its home. It’s a big deal.”
2020-09-24 10:43
I took a selfie after exercising the franchise.